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BOX SCORE
PHOENIX (AP) -- Pavel Bure had his first hat trick this season,
and that was enough to hand Phoenix goalie Bob Essensa his first
loss.
|  | | Florida's Mike Wilson, left, ties up Phoenix's Travis Green in front of goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov. |
Bure scored three goals in the third period to lead the Florida
Panthers to a 6-1 victory over the Coyotes on Wednesday night and
make a winner of Mikhail Shtalenkov in his homecoming.
"I don't think there was a difference between the periods,"
Bure said about Florida's five-goal surge in the final period. "It
was just payoff time. We were working hard and finally got some
breaks."
The game marked the first start for Florida by Shtalenkov, who went into the season as Phoenix's No. 1 goalie because of restricted free agent Nikolai Khabibulin's contract dispute. Shtalenkov was 7-2-2 in his first 11 games and earned NHL Player of the Month in October.
But he lost his next four starts, and Phoenix traded him and draft picks to the
Panthers for Sean Burke on Nov. 19. Burke won two games with
Phoenix before he was forced out of action by a torn ligament in his thumb.
"I was kind of nervous," he said. "So far they're the best
team in the NHL, but I think we played a perfect game on the road.
There weren't many chances for them, and we put ourselves in a good
position like 1-1 after two periods, so it's always your wish to be like that on the road."
Shtalenkov had 26 saves, blanking the Coyotes after giving up a
power-play goal to Greg Adams in the first period.
"I thought he played well," Adams said about Shtalenkov. "He
played well all year for us. They played a real solid road game and frustrated us."
Jeremy Roenick assisted on Adams' goal, extending his scoring streak to a career-best 11 games. Roenick's 10-game streak in
January 1993 was his previous best.
Bure, Lance Pitlick and Bret Hedican got more than enough goals
to snap the nine-game winning streak of Essensa (9-1-1), who went in as the NHL's only unbeaten goalie.
Essensa, who stopped 19 of 23 shots before Robert Esche replaced
him 9:04 into the third period, last lost on April 3 at Colorado.
Ray Whitney had an unassisted goal with 9:20 remaining and Bure broke away for his hat trick with 21 seconds left, leaving Esche with two saves on four shots.
Adams redirected a slap shot by Teppo Numminen 9:42 into the game, giving the Coyotes a 1-0 lead.
The Panthers, who won for only the fourth time in 12 road games,
put three shots on net in the first 38 seconds of the third period,
and Bure broke the tie with a low slap shot that went between the
kneeling Essensa's legs.
Hedican blasted a one-timer past the beleaguered goalie 2:10
into the third, and Bure added his second goal on a rebound 35
seconds later.
He scored No. 13 of the season when he picked up a loose puck in
the neutral zone and froze Phoenix's rookie goalie with a rush to
the net. It was his third three-goal game since Vancouver traded
him to the Panthers on Jan. 17 and the 12th of his career.
"You can't keep that little Russian kid off the sheets for too
long," Roenick said. "We made some mental mistakes. It's a
humbling experience, and maybe we need that right now."
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
Phoenix Clubhouse
RECAPS
Ottawa 0
Buffalo 0
Detroit 6
Nashville 3
NY Rangers 2
Edmonton 1
Dallas 2
Carolina 1
Florida 6
Phoenix 1
Vancouver 2
Anaheim 2
Los Angeles 4
Atlanta 0
San Jose 4
Colorado 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Lance Pitlick scores the easy goal.
avi: 656 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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