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Friday, March 17, 2000 By Dave Molinari, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Perhaps if Bob Boughner had been here for a while, he would have handled the play a bit differently.
Maybe he'd have thrown a drop pass. Or lugged the puck around the attacking zone until it's stolen from him. Or made a low-percentage attempt to get it to a teammate.
Hey, that's the Penguins Way. This season, anyway.
But Boughner is new to these parts, so when he saw the puck skidding toward him as he charged onto the ice from the bench midway through the third period, he did what seemed natural: He wound up and slapped it.
And got awinning goal to show for his trouble.
The puck Boughner drove past Florida goalie Trevor Kidd at 8:56 of the third gave the Penguins the margin they needed in what became a 4-2 victory against the Panthers.
And while Boughner's shot didn't overpower Kidd, it looked as impressive in the game summary as any Al MacInnis blast.
"There just happened to be a good screen in front of the net," Boughner said. "Probably, if [Kidd] had been able to see it, he would have had it, for sure."
Perhaps, but if Boughner hadn't put the puck on goal, it wouldn't have mattered what kind of view Kidd had.
It probably was no coincidence that last night marked the first time the Penguins had scored more than three goals in 17 games, ending a streak unprecedented in franchise history. And they did it, in large part, because Boughner and fellow newcomer Josef Beranek wasted no time turning up on the scoresheet.
"They got all the goals," Coach Herb Brooks said. "Two of them, anyway."
The victory gave the Penguins (29-33-8) sole possession of seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They are one point ahead of Montreal, two in front of the New York Rangers and Carolina and were three in front of Buffalo before the Sabres played in Vancouver last night.
"It was an awful big win for us," Brooks said. "[The playoff race] is just going to do down to the last few games, I'm sure."
The Penguins' victory, critical as it was, came at a cost. Defenseman Janne Laukkanen, one of seven players the Penguins acquired in a series of trades earlier this week, hurt his ribs early in the game and did not play for most of the final two periods.
Laukkanen said he believes he was injured by a cross-check from Florida defenseman Robert Svehla. He will have X-rays today to determine the extent of the damage.
Laukkanen said that if the X-rays do not show any significant problems, he hopes to be in the lineup when the Penguins visit Boston at 3:08 p.m. tomorrow. Coach Herb Brooks, though, said "I don't expect" that Laukkanen will play against the Bruins.
The Penguins, though, might get defenseman Peter Popovic, out since Feb. 1 because of a broken finger, and right winger Aleksey Morozov, who has a charley horse, back tomorrow.
What's more, right winger Jaromir Jagr plans to be back in uniform when the Rangers visit Mellon Arena Sunday night.
Jagr was animated and upbeat during a postgame visit to the Penguins' locker room, while Brooks described himself as "a little groggy" because of medication he's taking for a sore back.
Of course, there were times when some of his players looked like they were popping the same pills. Especially when they took some lazy, retaliatory penalties that could have turned the game in Florida's favor if the Panthers had converted more than one of their six tries with the extra man.
The Penguins killed an 86-second five-on-three during the first period, but Florida took a 1-0 lead two seconds after the first of those penalties expired. Pavel Bure got the goal, beating goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin with a slap shot from the top of the right circle at 11:55.
The Penguins countered when a Jiri Slegr slap shot caromed off the stick of Florida center Len Barrie and sailed over Kidd's glove at at 9:56 of the second, and Beranek put them in front to stay when he picked off a Bret Hedican pass and flipped the puck behind Kidd at 18:48.
Panthers Coach Terry Murray said, "we did not recover from that second goal," while Beranek said scoring should make it easier for him to settle in for his second tour of duty here.
"It helps a lot," said Beranek, who added that he's "happy, honestly happy, to be with this club."
Boughner, who had scored just seven times in his previous 318 NHL games, got what looked to be an insurance goal just 12 seconds before the end of a four-minute power play, but his goal became decisive when Barrie beat Aubin from the right edge of the crease at 14:02.
Although the Panthers seemed poised to steal at least a point, Matthew Barnaby aborted their comeback at 16:47, when his slap shot from high on the right side of the slot deflected off Svehla's stick and slipped under the cross bar.
Like Florida, the Penguins got just one goal out of six power plays. Still, they displayed some promise during their first try with the extra man, when Laukkanen shows signs of being a capable quarterback.
And a willingness to throw the puck on goal.
"We had a meeting today and [the coaches] said that every opportunity you get, try to put it on the net and go get rebounds," Laukkanen said. "So we tried to do that."
Sure, it's a crazy idea, but it just might work. Even for guys who have been on the payroll for more than a few days.
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