Jokinen powers Panthers past Bruins

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Panthers captain Olli Jokinen is leading by example.

Jokinen had two goals and an assist to extend his points streak to eight games in the Panthers' 6-4 victory over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.

"It doesn't matter who scores the goals," Jokinen said. "As long as we win, that's the key. If you play power play and you're on the first or second line, you're going to get your points."

Martin Gelinas, Joe Nieuwendyk, Chris Gratton and Gary Roberts also scored to help the Panthers improve to 4-0-1 in their last five home games.

"Olli is doing everything for us," Gratton said. "He's a big, physical guy, and he's getting to the net for us. He's playing with a lot of confidence."

The line of Jokinen, Roberts and Gratton combined for eight points.

"That line is getting the job done for us," Nieuwendyk said. "It's what you have to have from your top line if you're going to win hockey games."

Brad Boyes had two goals for Boston. Marco Sturm and J.P. Axelsson also scored for the Bruins, and defenseman Brad Stuart had a career-high three assists.

Roberto Luongo made 35 saves for the Panthers. Andrew Raycroft, making his first start in four games, stopped 21 shots for the Bruins.

The Bruins won the first two meetings between the teams this season, 5-2 at Florida and 4-1 at Boston.

Nieuwendyk broke a 3-3 tie with 7:06 left in the second period when he grabbed a loose puck inside the faceoff circle and beat Raycroft with a wrist shot.

Gratton made it 5-3 with 28.3 seconds left in the period, flipping a close-range shot over Raycroft.

Boyes closed the gap to 5-4 with his second goal at 9:22 of the third when he put the puck between Luongo's legs from the side of the net. Boston, which outshot Florida 39-27, nearly tied the game on a power play 2 minutes later, but Glen Murray's tip of a centering pass bounced off the post.

"That's kind of the way it's gone," Raycroft said. "At least that's what it feels like to me. One post away and one shot off the shin pad away, that's how close we are."

Jokinen's two first-period goals turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Jokinen has 14 points (six goals and eight assists) during his scoring streak.

Jokinen's first goal came 9 seconds after Boyes gave Boston the lead. Jokinen skated in alone on Raycroft after taking a pass from Roberts and beat the goalie with a deke.

Jokinen's second goal came when he batted a rebound from the back boards out of the air to beat Raycroft on the short side.

Axelsson tied it at 3 at 10:31 of the first period when he beat Luongo with a wrist shot with Boston short-handed.

"It was definitely run-and-gun off the bat," Boyes said. "That wasn't really the game plan for us."

Boston took a 1-0 lead at 1:21 on Sturm's goal, but Florida tied it 1:18 later when Gelinas tipped in Jozef Stumpel's pass from the wing.

"I thought we had a great start, but the one area where we need to get better is the next shift after you score is critical," Bruins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We've got to make sure we bear down to maintain the momentum."

Notes: Boston played without scoring leader Sergei Samsonov. He

has an inflamed rib cage. ... Axelsson left the game in the second period when he was hit by a slap shot in the neck. He returned in the third period. ... Florida F Rob Globke, recalled from Rochester of the AHL on Tuesday, made his NHL debut. ... Florida RW Juraj Kolnik missed his fourth consecutive game because of a knee injury.