Bure Doesn’t Waste Time

The “Russian Rocket” came back with a bang.

Acquired this week in a blockbuster trade, Pavel Bure scored twice Wednesday night to lead the Florida Panthers to a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders at Uniondale, N.Y.

“It was good to play,” Bure said. “I had great passes from the guys. The puck was there for me.”

And the former Vancouver Canuck knew what to do with it, as he usually does.

Bure’s first goal of the night broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and was a classic. He zoomed in on goaltender Felix Potvin after taking a breakout pass at the blue line from Robert Svehla.

Bure steamed down the center of the ice, split defenders Zdeno Chara and Scott Lachance, showed Potvin a backhander that put him down before beating him with a forehand at 7:39.

“It was a great pass from Robert and I just went in on a breakaway,” Bure said. “I lost the puck before I wanted to shoot. That’s why I went to the backhand first.”

Potvin said he made a mistake on the play.

“I probably committed too early.”

Bure added a power-play goal as the Panthers broke open the game with three goals in the third period as Florida extended the Islanders’ winless streak to 11 games.

That’s just what the goal-starved Panthers hoped to see from the explosive right wing, who forced his trade from Vancouver with a season-long holdout. The Canucks finally traded Bure to the Panthers on Sunday in a seven-player deal, hoping to pump more life into an anemic offense.

Bure made himself immediately available to the Panthers, flying from Moscow to New York on Tuesday. He stayed up until midnight to adjust to the time difference, slept until 9 a.m. Wednesday and reported in time for the morning skate.

Toronto 6, Dallas 4--Steve Thomas scored a key third-period goal and Steve Sullivan added an insurance goal with 2:40 to play at Dallas.