Bure Nets Four In Panthers Win

Thanks to Pavel Bure, Mike Vernon got the victory. That's all that really mattered to the Florida Panthers.

Bure equaled a career-high with four goals, while Vernon weathered a shaky debut as Florida's goalie by finishing strong Saturday to hold off the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning 7-5.

"We'll take the two points," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "The most important thing in a hockey game is winning the game."

Vernon, acquired in a trade from San Jose on Thursday, became the fifth goalie to start for the Southeast Division-leading Panthers this season, filling in for the injured Trevor Kidd. He settled down after allowing three second-period goals, stopping five of six shots in the final period while Bure was scoring three times.

"I said to Pavel: `Thanks for bailing me out,"' Vernon said. "It seemed like whoever had the last shot was going to win that game. I'm sure we'll be better and I'll be better. It's just getting the jitters out."

Bure scored three times against Tampa Bay goalie Kevin Hodson and added an empty-net goal with 28.1 seconds remaining to assure Vernon's 354th career win. Brad Hedican, Robert Svehla and Ray Sheppard also had goals for the Panthers, who got three assists from Ray Whitney.

"Basically, we gave it to Pavel in the third period and let him run with it," said Whitney.

Bure, who also scored four goals against Winnipeg on Oct. 12, 1992, beat Hodson with a nice backhand shot on the breakaway that made it 6-5 with just under 11 minutes left.

"I've scored a few goals like that," Bure said. "He forced me to the side, and then I had to shoot hard for the other side. If it gets through, it's a goal."

Vincent Lecavalier had two goals and two assists for his first four-point game for the Lightning. Stephen Guolla had a goal and two assists, while Fredrik Modin scored one goal and assisted on another for Tampa Bay.

The loss was the seventh straight for the Lightning, who finished a tumultuous week that began with an embarrassing 6-1 loss to the Panthers at home last Monday night.

The following day veteran Stephane Richer, frustrated about dwindling playing time, requested a trade and was placed on waivers. The Lightning reassigned him to the Detroit Vipers of the IHL, then suspended the right wing without pay when he didn't report to the minor league team on Friday.

The agent for Richer, who's in the second season of a three-year, $6.6 million contract, has said the 33-year-old player with 399 career goals plans to report to the minors Sunday.

Tampa Bay also played without Darcy Tucker, who began serving a two-game NHL suspension for a spearing incident against the Panthers last Monday night. The penalty ended Tucker's team-best streak of 144 consecutive games.

Despite the loss, Lightning coach Steve Ludzik was encouraged by the way his team bounced back from the previous game in which it trailed Florida 5-0 before scoring a short-handed goal in the closing minutes.

But once again, defense was Tampa Bay's downfall. Opponents have scored at least four goals in each game during the current losing streak.

"The shots are even on the road, we score five goals and come back every time. It's getting old, really quick" Ludzik said. "Some of the guys are sitting there saying: `Hey, come on. What's going on?' I'm proud of every guy in that room. But as a whole, we have to cut back on the goals against."

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