This is why the list must be checked twice.
What, no goal yet this season for hard-working Dennis Seidenberg? Must be one somewhere in this bag.
Benoit Pouliot hasn?t had a chance to show the skill that made him the fourth player selected in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft? Gotta take care of that.
A plug for the hole created by Rich Peverley?s absence? Oh, that?s right here ? Patrice Bergeron, with a goal and an assist from the point on the power play. Tuukka Rask has complained so little about playing so little? That?s definitely worth a second shutout.
There?s even something for those who?ve been a little naughty ? a goal for Milan Lucic in his return from a one-game suspension, and the biggest gift of the night for ever-abrasive winger Brad Marchand ? his first NHL hat trick.
?I never thought I?d ever get one of those in this league,? said Marchand, the second-year NHLer who was just moving up from the Bruins? fourth line at this time last year.
The Bruins turned it all into an 8-0 victory over Florida on Friday night at TD Garden. Boston?s sixth straight victory sent the B?s into their holiday break in first place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the New York Rangers.
The NHL schedule-maker did a little gift-wrapping, too, by sending the Panthers to Boston for their third game since Tuesday, and with seven injured forwards. The B?s, heeding pretty strict instructions from coach Claude Julien to play like the fresher, healthier team, won the game with a four-goal first period.
Marchand?s shorthanded goal after just 5:56 got the night off to a good start, and three goals in the period?s final 6:20 crushed what little spirit the Panthers might have started with: Lucic scored on the power play at 13:40, Pouliot beat defenseman Dmitry Kulikov on a dazzling 1-on-1 rush before surprising goalie Jose Theodore with a backhander at 18:31, and Seidenberg scored his first of the year with 58 seconds left in the period.
Gregory Campbell, a former Panther (so is Seidenberg) who hit a crossbar in the first period, got a shot under the bar against relief goalie Scott Clemmensen 3:50 into the second period, and Bergeron struck on the power play 12 minutes later. Marchand scored his 14th and 15th goals in the third period to complete his hat trick, and take the team?s goal-scoring lead away from linemate Tyler Seguin.
POOR RICH
Peverley?s absence wasn?t a surprise. The B?s haven?t disclosed his injury, but acknowledged last Saturday ? when Peverley didn?t play for most of the third period in a 6-0 win at Philadelphia ? that he?d been playing through some discomfort. He took Sunday off, extended his points streak to four games (2 goals, 5 assists) with an assist in an 18-minute, 22-second outing Monday night against Montreal, and hasn?t been on skates since.
?We thought that was the best plan,? Julien said. ?Give him a whole week (to) hopefully recover and be in better shape when he gets back.?
The Bruins won?t skate again until a practice session on Tuesday at Phoenix, where they play on Wednesday night. Unless he skates on his own before that, Peverley ? who had climbed into a tie for second on Boston?s scoring list with Patrice Bergeron at 25 points ? will not have been on the ice for seven straight days.
?We thought that was the best plan,? Julien said. ?Give (Peverley) a whole week to hopefully recover and be in better shape when he gets back.?
AROUND THE BOARDS
Left wing Jordan Caron and defenseman Steve Kampfer were Boston?s healthy scratches ? Florida was so short of healthy forwards, rookie defenseman Erik Gudbranson skated as a winger
Mike Loftus may be reached at mloftus@ledger.com.
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