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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
BOSTON (AP) -- Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist Sunday to earn a $1.4 million bonus and lead the Boston Bruins to an otherwise meaningless 3-1 season-ending victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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The Penguins had already locked up the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and will play Washington in the first round. Boston, which had not won in its previous eight games (0-6-2), will miss the playoffs for the second time in four years.
Jaromir Jagr, who did not score in Pittsburgh's regular-season
finale, finished with 96 points -- 42 goals, 54 assists -- for his
third consecutive scoring title.
John Grahame stopped 17 shots, and Antti Laaksonen scored twice
for Boston, which finished 24-39-19, its lowest win total since
1966-67, when the team won 17.
Peter Skudra made 30 saves for the Penguins, who got their goal
from Alexei Morozov.
Thornton could have sat out the last two games and collected his
bonus anyway based on a points per-game average. But he played and
earned it.
The No. 1 overall draft pick in 1997, Thornton made a perfect centering pass to Laaksonen, who was all alone in front of the net, to tie it 1-1 with 10:20 left in the first period.
The Bruins went up 2-1 when Steve Heinze swept behind the net
and centered to Laaksonen, who swiped it in at 18:01. Then Thornton
made it 3-1 when he gathered in a rebound in front of the net and
poked it past Skudra.
That gave Thornton 23 goals and 37 assists on the season, the 60 points he needed to earn the incentive bonus, a feat acknowledged when Pink Floyd's "Money" was played over the arena sound system.
Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead when Grahame sprawled to the ice to
save a shot from Morozov, who put in the rebound.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Buffalo 1
Washington 1
NY Islanders 3
Florida 2
Carolina 2
Atlanta 1
Los Angeles 4
Anaheim 3
Chicago 3
St. Louis 1
Colorado 3
Detroit 2
Phoenix 2
Dallas 2
Boston 3
Pittsburgh 1
Ottawa 5
Tampa Bay 2
Vancouver 5
San Jose 2
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