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BOX SCORE
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- Growing up in Russia, Nik Antropov didn't
follow the NHL career of countryman Pavel Bure.
|  | | Toronto's Kevyn Adams, left, tries to steal the puck from Florida's Oleg Kvasha. |
On Monday night, Antropov upstaged him.
Antropov, 19, notched his first career hat trick as the Toronto
Maple Leafs rallied to a 6-4 victory over the Florida Panthers.
The Maple Leafs, who trailed 4-2, scored four unanswered goals
in the third period -- the final two by Antropov.
Antropov's second of the night, and third of the year, with
10:03 left, put Toronto ahead 5-4. It was the Maple Leafs' third
goal in just under five minutes.
Antropov, Toronto's first selection in the 1998 NHL draft, sent
a shot from the right circle past Florida's Mikhail Shtalenkov. It
came after Igor Korolev's power-play goal and a short-handed score
by Dimitri Yushkevich that tied the game.
The third goal by Antropov came with 6:23 left after he
one-timed a shot on a two-on-one break with Dmitri Khristich. Florida's Cam Stewart had turned the puck over to Khristich on a drop pass.
"My first hat trick in the NHL," Antropov said.
"Unbelievable. I'm so happy."
The loss ended Florida's four-game winning streak and was only
the Panthers' third defeat at home. Toronto won its third straight.
"He had one of those nights," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said of
the rookie center who debuted against the Panthers on Oct. 13 in
Toronto. "It might be a coming out for him -- I hope it is."
The momentum shifted back and forth all game.
"It didn't look good when we were down 4-2, but we kept
plugging," said Curtis Joseph, who had 36 saves. "But we kept
plugging and Nikki had a big game -- he buried three. You need
somebody to get hot and Nikki was hot tonight."
Last year, Antropov was skating for Dynamo Moscow of the Russian
Hockey League. He had five goals and nine assists in 30 games.
Coming into the NHL, he was not viewed as a complete player, but as
a raw talent.
"People questioned his skating," said Toronto's Mats Sundin,
who had a goal Monday. "But I think he's going to be a hell of a player."
Antropov scored his three goals against a fellow
countryman, Bure.
"Yesterday, I told him three goals," Antropov joked.
Bure, the NHL's player of the week, set a Panthers record by
scoring a goal in his fifth straight game. Bure, who has 12 goals
in seven games, also had two assists.
Ray Whitney scored a pair of goals for Florida.
"It was a game that was there for us," Panthers coach Terry
Murray said. "We gave the game to them."
The Panthers were down 2-0 after one period, but scored twice in
the second and added two goals early in the third. Bure had his
hand in two of them.
Florida lost for the first time this season when Bure scored a goal (13-1-1).
The Maple Leafs are now 6-1-2 in their last nine against the Panthers. Joseph improved to 8-1-1 lifetime against Florida.
Just 1:28 into the game, the Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead on Antropov's first score of the game.
His only other goal was Nov. 15 against San Jose.
"You can't say enough about him," said Tie Domi, who assisted on Antropov's opening goal. "You hate to compare him,
but I see a lot of Alexei Yashin in him, except he's more feisty."
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Toronto Clubhouse
Florida Clubhouse
RECAPS
Colorado 4
Carolina 2
Toronto 6
Florida 4
Montreal 5
Pittsburgh 1
Detroit 4
San Jose 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Florida's Pavel Bure scores on the slap shot.
avi: 697 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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