Instant offense
Bure scores twice in debut, leads Panthers past Islanders
Posted: Thursday January 21, 1999 01:34 AM
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In his Florida debut Pavel Bure gave the Panthers exactly what they hoped he would -- explosive scoring AP |
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- The "Russian Rocket" came back with a bang.
Just acquired in a blockbuster trade, Pavel Bure scored twice Wednesday
night to lead the Florida
Panthers to a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders.
"It was good to play," Bure said. "I had great passes from the guys.
The puck was there for me."
And Bure knew what to do with it, as he usually does.
Bure's first goal of the night broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and
was a classic. He zoomed in on goaltender Felix Potvin after taking a
breakout pass at the blue line from Robert Svehla.
Bure steamed down the center of the ice, split defenders Zdeno Chara
and Scott Lachance, showed Potvin a backhander that put him down before
beating him with a forehand at 7:39 to break a 1-1 tie.
"It was a great pass from Robert and I just went in on a breakaway,"
Bure said. "I lost the puck before I wanted to shoot. That's why I went to
the backhand first."
Potvin said he made a mistake on the play.
"I probably committed too early."
Bure added a power-play goal as the Panthers broke open the game with
three goals in the third period as Florida extended the Islanders' winless
streak to 11 games (0-10-1).
That's just what the goal-starved Panthers hoped to see from the
explosive right wing, who forced his trade from Vancouver with a
season-long holdout. The Canucks finally traded Bure to the Panthers on
Sunday in a seven-player deal, hoping to pump more life into an anemic
offense that was rated 21st in the 27-team NHL prior to Wednesday's games.
Bure had scored 60 goals twice and 51 goals another season for the Canucks.
Bure made himself immediately available to the Panthers, flying from
Moscow to New York on Tuesday. He stayed up until midnight to adjust to the
time difference, slept until 9 a.m. Wednesday and reported in time for the
morning skate.
Skating on an all-Russian line with Viktor Kozlov and Oleg Kvasha,
except for power plays, Bure went out on 16 shifts for a total time of
about 12 minutes. He scored on his second shot after Potvin stopped him on
his first 3:24 into the second period. His power-play goal at 11:17 of the
third came with the Panthers skating with a two-man advantage.
"Pavel had an impact right away," Panthers coach Terry Murray said.
"Everyone knows who he is and what he can do."
Bure's first appearance of the season sparked a turnout from the media
at the Nassau Coliseum that was about triple the normal amount.
The night also featured the Islanders' debut of Craig Janney, recently
acquired from Tampa Bay.
Robert Reichel gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead when he beat Sean Burke
with a shot from the high slot at 6:42 of the first period. Johan Garpenlov
tied it for Florida when he poked in a rebound at 7:11 that Potvin lost in
the crease. Following Bure's dramatic goal in the second, Scott Mellanby,
Bure and Radek Dvorak scored for the Panthers in the third. Ted Crowley
added a power-play goal for the Islanders, the first of his NHL career.
"I was not surprised by Pavel," said Islanders captain Trevor Linden, a
former teammate of Bure's at Vancouver. "He's a goal scorer."
The Panthers improved to 3-1-0 against the Islanders this season.
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