MVN: Most Valuable Network

Saturday night's game in Montreal will be the contest most fans around New England direct their attention to this weekend, but for the Boston Bruins, there was business to be done Friday, as the Florida Panthers visited the TD Banknorth Garden. Boston stayed focused, controlling most of the first two periods, en route to a 4-2 victory.

As soon as the puck dropped to start the evening, the Bruins were ready to play. A little more than two minutes into the contest, Phil Kessel was sent on a partial breakaway, but got denied by Tomas Vokoun. Kessel got his revenge moments later. Dennis Wideman started the play behind his own net, sending a pass up to Marc Savard between the circles. Savard began moving forward, but spotted Kessel open at the opposite blueline, and tossed a long lead pass his way. Kessel split the Florida defense upon receiving the pass, and was in alone on Vokoun. After getting stopped on his first attempt, Kessel stickhandled as he got close to the net, and slipped a shot through Vokoun's pads.

Boston continued to play well in the opening stanza, but the Panthers were able to get the equalizer 5:15 later. Bryan McCabe moved the puck up the right side of the ice, passing to Nathan Horton in front of the Bruins' bench. Horton gathered in the pass along the boards, before catching David Booth heading into the offensive zone. Booth let a quick snap shot go from the right slot that appeared to go in off the post, but play continued. 20 seconds later, the whistle blew, allowing a review to take place, and the goal was correctly awarded.

One of the themes from Thursday night's win over Buffalo was the Bruins' ability to respond quickly after allowing a goal. On Saturday, it took Boston just 2:01 to regain their lead. Michael Ryder battled for possession along the end boards with a Florida defender, ultimately swinging the puck back around for Matt Hunwick at the left point. With a few bodies in front of the net, Hunwick immediately let a one-timer go. One of those bodies was Patrice Bergeron, and he got credit for the goal, as it bounced in past Vokoun. The Bruins carried that 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

Midway through the second period, Boston got the offense clicking again. Keith Ballard tried taking a shot from the left point for Florida, but fell, causing a 3-on-1 break the other way. David Krejci picked up the loose puck, skating slowly down the right side. Rather than making a dash for the net, Krejci pulled up, and hit an oncoming Chuck Kobasew in the high slot. Kobasew tried a shot that got blocked by Noah Welch, but the rebound deflected right to Krejci beside the goal. Krejci tapped in an easy backhander, putting the home team ahead by a pair.

Less than a minute after Krejci's tally, Michael Frolik got sent to the penalty box with a double-minor for high sticking. Sure enough, the Bruins extended their lead 50 seconds into the power play. PJ Axelsson sent a hard cross-ice feed to Marc Savard at the top of the offensive zone. Savard proceeded to pass down to Patrice Bergeron in the left circle, before driving to the net. Bergeron waited for a brief moment, then took a wrist shot. Vokoun made the save, but the rebound kicked out to Savard, who slammed it back in.

At that point, frustration began to set in for the Panthers. Former Bruin, Nick Boynton decided to drop the gloves with Milan Lucic. Lucic cut his hand on Boynton's helmet during the fight, but still took the decision. Boston was unable to score on the second half of Frolik's penalty, but had a comfortable 4-1 lead after two periods of play. The Bruins out shot Florida 21-13 during the second period.

The score remained 4-1 for most of the third period, but with 3:06 to play, Florida cut the lead to two. Jay Bouwmeester fired a shot from the left point that got blocked by a Boston defender, but quickly grabbed the puck back and shot again. His second attempt got through for a save by Tim Thomas, but the rebound dribbled out into the crease for a falling Ville Peltonen. Peltonen managed to take a swing at the puck with his backhand as he fell, knocking it into the net.

The Bruins had a chance to get their fifth goal of the night with Vokoun pulled, but multiple shots ended up missing the vacant cage. Florida was able to generate a couple of chances in the final minute as well, but the buzzer sounded with Boston taking a 4-2 win.

Tim Thomas had another solid effort between the pipes for the Bruins. He stopped 30 of 32 shots for his eighth win of the season. Tomas Vokoun had a heavy workload on this night, making 35 saves on 39 shots in the loss.

There was plenty of excitement in Providence on Friday as well, as the Providence Bruins beat the Portland Pirates 3-2 in a shootout. The first two periods went by without a goal, before Portland's Felix Schutz broke the deadlock 2:33 into the final period. Vladimir Sobotka put the P-Bruins on the board at the 5:20 mark, as he took a pass from Martins Karsums, and beat Jhonas Enroth on a breakaway. The Pirates responded with a Derek Whitmore goal less than three minutes later, but Providence would get the equalizer later in the frame. Wacey Rabbit found Byron Bitz open in the slot, and Bitz lifted a shot over Enroth's glove. From there, nothing was able to be settled in regulation or overtime, so the teams headed to a shootout. Both goaltenders continued their solid play in the shootout, with the lone goal coming on the Baby B's fourth shot. Peter Schaefer sped down the middle, put the puck on his backhand, and slid it into the right side of the net. Kevin Regan was perfect on all five shootout attempts in the Providence net, after stopping 24 of 26 shots in the game for the win. Jhonas Enroth made 31 saves on 33 shots during the game, but gave up the goal to Schaefer for the shootout loss.

The Boston Bruins will be right back at it Saturday night, as they travel to Montreal for a showdown with the Canadiens. According to the schedule, the game is supposed to start at 7:00, but Patrick Roy's jersey is getting retired, so that could push things back a bit. The Providence Bruins are also in action Saturday night. They visit the Springfield Falcons for a 7:00 game.

Scoring Summary:
1. BOS Kessel (10) (Savard, Wideman) 2:46
1. FLA Booth (9) (Horton, McCabe) 8:01
1. BOS Bergeron (4) (Hunwick, Ryder) 10:02
2. BOS Krejci (5) (Kobasew) 7:43
2. BOS Savard (8) (Bergeron, Axelsson) (PP) 9:26
3. FLA Peltonen (1) (Bouwmeester, McCabe) 16:54

Penalty Summary:
1. BOS Savard- Tripping 11:00
1. FLA Zednik- Slashing 15:15
2. BOS Chara- Holding 1:36
2. BOS Hunwick- Holding 4:01
2. FLA Frolik- High Sticking (Double-Minor) 8:36
2. FLA Boynton- Fighting 11:42
2. BOS Lucic- Fighting 11:42
2. FLA Ballard- Roughing 17:18
2. BOS Ward- Roughing (Double-Minor) 17:18

Goalies:
FLA Tomas Vokoun (4-10-0): 39 shots, 35 saves
BOS Tim Thomas (8-2-3): 32 shots, 30 saves

Shots on Goal:
FLA 9-13-10=32
BOS 14-21-4=39

Power Plays:
FLA 0-for-4
BOS 1-for-3

Three Stars of the Game:
1- BOS Marc Savard
2- BOS Patrice Bergeron
3- BOS Phil Kessel