"We're a good team, but we're not that good," lamented coach Claude Julien, displeased with a general malaise in his club's game of late. "We know our hockey club, and we know to win that we have to be a committed and determined team. We aren't finishing our checks, and we haven't been committed in front of the [offensive] net."
Johansson triggered the winning drive, gaining possession deep in his own end and quickly pivoting the transition game, headmanning the puck to Weiss for a rush up into the neutral zone. Weiss, spotting the breaking Horton, dished to his left, sending Horton streaking toward the left circle. As he closed toward the net, taking aim on goalie Alex Auld, he had defenseman Mark Stuart as the only Bruin to beat.
"I was right in front of him," said Stuart, who tried to straighten up and deflect Horton's quick snap. "He shot it, and I thought for sure that I blocked it."
Stuart blocked it, but not all of it, the puck ricocheting off his left knee just enough for Auld not to be able to track it. It ended up beating Auld on the short side, and handed the Bruins their second loss in as many nights, following a 10-2 shellacking in Washington.
Auld finished with 31 saves while Craig Anderson, the distant backup to Florida's top tender, Tomas Vokoun, turned back 40 for his second shutout in as many starts.
"He said it just sort of grazed his knee, and it hopped," said Auld, referring to Stuart. "I mean, it's tough, I don't know what to say, but we have to keep getting points, and we got 1 tonight - and that's better than nothing."
The night was in sharp contrast to the eight-goal pasting the Bruins took the night before in D.C., where the Capitals needed less than 20 minutes to pile up a 6-0 lead and wipe away Boston's six-game winning streak.
"It's important to regroup," said Auld. "You get judged on that a lot in this game, and we made steps tonight, but we need more."
