Dafoe Shuts Down Panthers

One game shy of the record for most games played as a Boston Bruin, Ray Bourque is still leading the way.

In his 1,435th game for Boston on Tuesday night, Bourque scored the game winner and assisted on the only other goal as the Bruins beat the Florida Panthers 2-0.

John Bucyk holds the record for most games played for Boston. Bourque is expected to tie that record in New York on Friday and break it Saturday in Buffalo.

Byron Dafoe made 19 saves for his seventh shutout of the season and 14th of his career.

The win gave the Bruins a two-point advantage over the New York Rangers in their fight for the eighth and final playoff spot in the NHL's Eastern Conference. They meet Friday in New York.

"The key to the game for us tonight was we got off to a fast start," Bourque said. "We've been having a tough time doing that lately."

Dafoe's stops included a glove save on Bret Hedican from the slot at 4:14 of the third period and a stick save from the left of the crease by Robert Svehla five minutes later.

"We played three solid periods tonight and any mistakes we did make, Byron (Dafoe) took care of those," said Boston coach Pat Burns.

Bourque scored a power-play goal at 9:45 of the second period to give Boston a 1-0 lead. The 150th power-play goal of his career came on a shot from the point

"The goal got us the lead. That's what made it important, not how many it was for me in my career," said Bourque.

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Byron Dafoe earned his seventh shutout of the season. (AP)

Jason Allison's 19th on a rebound of a shot by Dmitri Khristich at 11:38 of the third period boosted the Bruins' lead to 2-0. Bourque's assist on the play was the 36th of the season for the Bruins' all-star defenseman.

Sean Burke stopped 39 shots for Florida, including 16 in the first period.

"The crucial time for us was in the third period when we had a two-man advantage and we didn't do anything with that," said Florida coach Terry Murray.

The Panthers had snapped a five-game road winless streak (0-3-2) in Montreal on Monday night. They are 10-12-11 away from home this season with two wins in their last 11 road games.

"We have another game on the road Thursday in Washington and considering what happened tonight it will be a huge one for us," said Burke.

Boston's Landon Wilson suffered a concussion in a second-period collision.

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