Bure Passes Milestone as Panthers Win in OT

Although Pavel Bure’s first goal was the milestone, it was his second that caused the celebration.

Bure scored the 300th goal of his career, and added his 301st in overtime as the Florida Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins, 4-3, on Saturday night at Sunrise, Fla.

Bure, whose 34 goals tie him with Pittsburgh’s Jaromir Jagr for the NHL lead, rebounded a shot by Viktor Kozlov 1:31 into overtime to score his 301st goal. Earlier in the game, Bure become the seventh-fastest player in NHL history to score 300 goals.

“I was just looking for Pavel,� Kozlov said. “I just shot to the net and Pavel scored. It was so simple.�

The puck glanced off goalie Byron Dafoe and defenseman Don Sweeney before coming to Bure, who buried it.

“It feels pretty good, but the big milestone in the NHL is 500, so I have a long way to go,� Bure said. “[No.] 301 I’ll probably remember for a long time.�

Florida, 6-1-1 in its last eight, ended a two-game winless streak and stopped Boston’s five-game unbeaten streak.

Carolina 4, Buffalo 1--Ron Francis and Sami Kapanen scored power-play goals 1:31 apart as the Hurricanes snapped their season-worst five-game losing streak with a victory over the Sabres at Raleigh, N.C.

Washington 5, Toronto 5--Chris Simon scored twice as the Capitals extended their undefeated streak to seven with a tie at Toronto.

Montreal 4, Pittsburgh 2--Dainius Zubrus had two power-play goals and added an assist as the Canadiens defeated the Penguins at Montreal.

Detroit 3, Ottawa 2--Niklas Lidstrom scored twice and Pat Verbeek scored the go-ahead goal as the Red Wings defeated the Senators at Kanata, Canada.

New York Islanders 2, Tampa Bay 0--Kevin Weekes made 28 saves as the Islanders snapped a six-game losing streak with a victory at Uniondale, N.Y.

New York Rangers 4, St. Louis 1--Jan Hlavac scored twice and Mike Richter made 28 saves as the Rangers extended their winning streak to five with a victory over St. Louis.

Edmonton 3, Vancouver 3--Todd Marchant scored twice, including the tying goal with 1:42 remaining in the third period, as the Oilers rallied for a tie with the Canucks at Edmonton, Canada.

Around the League

Ottawa Senator center Magnus Arvedson underwent surgery in Philadelphia to repair torn intestines, the team said. Arvedson, expected to be sidelined at least six weeks, was injured Thursday night when he was checked into an open bench doorway by Philadelphia’s Marc Bureau. . . . St. Louis Blues defenseman Al MacInnis will miss at least three weeks because of a collapsed lung. MacInnis, the Norris Trophy winner last year as the NHL’s top defenseman, underwent a procedure to reinflate the collapsed lung, suffered Friday night in the Blues’ 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. MacInnis missed 12 games earlier because of a broken ankle. . . . The Montreal Canadiens traded center Scott Thornton to the Dallas Stars for left wing Juha Lind.