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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pavel Bure-Jaromir Jagr shootout turned
out to be a mismatch, and so did the final score.
|  | | Penguins goalie Tom Barrasso makes a save on Florida's Radek Dvorak, left. |
Bure scored his fourth and fifth goals in two nights and the
Florida Panthers ended the Pittsburgh Penguins' four-game winning
streak under new coach Herb Brooks, winning 5-2 Saturday night.
Jaroslav Spacek added a goal and two assists as Florida won its second game in two cities in as many nights and fourth in a row by
opening a 4-0 lead in the second period.
Mikhail Shtalenkov stopped 25 shots to win his third in a row
since Florida goaltending star Trevor Kidd separated a shoulder in
the team's skills competition. The Panthers have won six of seven
and are 13-0-1 when Bure scores.
"That's just a coincidence, but it's obviously much more fun
when you score and the team wins," Bure said.
Bure, who had a three-goal game Friday night in Florida's 4-2
victory in Buffalo, added an assist and an empty-net short-handed
goal with 45 seconds remaining to win his personal shootout with
NHL scoring leader Jagr.
"Pavel had a couple of great games back-to-back," Panthers
coach Terry Murray said. "He's really very alert and making a lot
of things happen. I think it makes the opposition think about what
they really want to do when he's out there."
Jagr scored his league-leading 25th goal, but only after Florida
led 4-1. Jagr has six goals and three assists under Brooks and was
coming off a five-point game Wednesday at Carolina, but had few
good scoring chances as Florida effectively trapped in the neutral zone over the final two periods.
"We had a couple of good chances in the beginning and didn't
score, and they got a couple real early," Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis said. "We didn't get anything going. Each player tried to be a hero and it didn't happen."
The Panthers are 2-0 against the Penguins this season after
beating them once in five games last season.
"You don't win in Buffalo and Pittsburgh in two nights and not
have it be a solid team effort," Murray said. "Everybody was
responsible. There was good discipline, good execution and good
goaltending."
Florida took the 2-0 lead in the first period before Penguins
goaltender Tom Barrasso was lifted with a twisted back. Mark
Parrish scored his eighth at 5:45 and Viktor Kozlov had a power-play goal at 12:47.
"They hit a couple of posts and we got a 2-0 lead, and playing
against a team as dynamic offensively as they are, I think that's
the key," Murray said.
The first-period deficit was the Penguins' first under Brooks,
who replaced Kevin Constantine on Dec. 9 after Pittsburgh fell six
games under .500.
"We've really been trying hard, and I think we tried too
hard," Penguins forward Alexei Kovalev said.
Florida made it 3-0 in the second period when Hans Jonsson
turned the puck over trying to pass to Jagr, allowing Bure to break
free from the right circle and put a slap shot between Skudra's
pads at 11:42.
Spacek scored 40 seconds later, redirecting Parrish's slap shot
from the right circle by Skudra.
Jiri Slegr scored his fifth at 16:10 of the second. Jagr scored
off Rozsival's pass at 13:43 of the third.
The Penguins lost for the second time in their last 10 home
games. They wasted a chance to get back into the game early in the
third period when German Titov was called for hooking five seconds
after Bret Hedican drew a four-minute penalty for high-sticking
Jagr in the mouth.
The Panthers then killed off what became only a two-minute power
play as Pittsburgh went 0-for-6 with the man advantage. The
Penguins also lost forward Tom Chorske with a separated shoulder.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Brooks' balanced approach gets results
RECAPS
Calgary 2
Ottawa 1
Buffalo 2
NY Islanders 2
Philadelphia 4
Tampa Bay 0
Toronto 2
Montreal 1
Carolina 4
Atlanta 2
New Jersey 5
Washington 4
Florida 5
Pittsburgh 2
Colorado 2
Nashville 2
St. Louis 4
Boston 0
Dallas 4
Vancouver 2
Chicago 8
Los Angeles 4
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Pavel Bure goes "top-shelf" against Pittsburgh.
avi: 674 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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