| | SUNRISE, Fla. -- Pavel Bure returned to the Florida Panthers' lineup Wednesday night and wasted little time in
scoring his first goal after a five-game absence.
| |  | | | Bure |
Bure, who had been sidelined with a groin injury since Oct. 12,
scored Florida's two goals in the Panthers' 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders.
"I guess it is 100 percent when you win 6-3," Bure said of his
injury. "It was a great game for us. It's always important to
score the first goal. Whether it was me of someone else, when
you do that, it gives the whole team confidence."
Bure worked his way from behind the net and scored at 2:55 of
the first period, his fourth goal of the season, to put the Panthers up 1-0. Bure, whom Florida
acquired from Vancouver in a trade last January, had three goals
and three assists in his first four games before the injury.
Bure scored his second goal, and the Panthers' fifth of the game, at 15:03 of the second period.
The superstar right wing helped the Panthers
avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season.
Bure has five goals and three assists in five games this season
and Florida improved to 4-0-1 with him in the lineup.
Known as the "Russian Rocket," Bure sparkled with Florida last
season, recording 13 goals and three assists in only 11 games
after being acquired from Vancouver.
Left wing Ray Whitney also returned tonight for the Panthers and
made an impact with a goal and two assists. He leads the team
with 11 points.
"I had a feeling that we would get some scoring going," Florida
coach Terry Murray said. "We haven't scored very well in the
last couple of games and to have a healthy lineup with Pavel
Bure and Ray Whitney back in the lineup, two guys who score
goals, I was certainly hoping that things would fall into place
for us and they did."
Florida (6-3-1) tops the Southeast Division with 14 points, three more than the Carolina Hurricanes. | |
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Return of Bure, Whitney, Worrell spark Panthers over Islanders
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