SUNRISE, Fla. - In the second period of Tuesday's 3-2 shootout win over Carolina, Andrew Ference's left leg went numb.
A slapper by Andrew Ladd popped Ference behind the left knee, hitting a nerve that prompted the Boston defenseman to pull a flamingo, twirling around on his right leg until the Bruins cleared the zone and he could peel off toward the bench.
"It went dead," said Ference. "I couldn't feel anything. I thought I really hurt myself."
Ladd's shot opened up a cut. But after several minutes on the bench, Ference shook off the injury. Later in the period, he assisted on Marc Savard's power-play goal for his 12th helper.
Despite the injury (Ference completed the game and was fine yesterday), the defenseman turned in one of his better performances - a 35-shift workload that didn't resemble some of the struggles he's had since coming back from a sprained knee.
"It's been a rough go since I came back from the injury," said Ference. "It's frustrating. The first couple of weeks after the injury, I felt really crappy playing."
At the start of the season, Ference had been one of the club's top three defensemen, playing a hard-nosed game while moving the puck effectively. In mid-December, when he reentered the lineup after sitting out 12 games because of his knee, Ference was rusty as expected, looking especially ragged in a 5-4 shootout loss Dec. 20 to Pittsburgh, when he was on the ice for the Penguins' first three goals.
Ference recovered in the following weeks, but hit another dip earlier this month, recording a minus-4 rating in a four-game span while skating mostly on the third pairing with Shane Hnidy.
"I think when you come back from injuries, you play it too safe," Ference said. "You simplify your game too much."
So it was especially satisfying for Ference to rebound against Carolina. He had 23:54 of ice time and put a team-high five shots on goal. Ference also tangled with forward Scott Walker twice, earning roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. "I've felt good for a couple weeks now," said Ference. "It takes time."
Rising confidence
By his recollection, David Krejci converted on 11 of his 14 shootout attempts last season in Providence. So when he took his first NHL shootout try Tuesday, the rookie center believed he could put an end to the game.With help from Phil Kessel.
"It was a little easier once Phil scored the goal," said Krejci. "If I didn't score, we still would have been able to win."
With the poise of a veteran, Krejci waited for Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward to make the first move, then snapped a shot past the netminder - a trick he hasn't been able to turn in regulation as an NHLer.
"Now I know I can score in this league," said Krejci. "So it helps."
Picking his spots
It may have been a coincidence, but after Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason wiped out Savard with a clean hit, then scored a takedown in a fight with Milan Lucic, the Hurricanes kicked off their two-goal rally.Twelve seconds after Gleason and Lucic went toe-to-toe, Ray Whitney halved Boston's lead. Twenty seconds after Whitney's goal, Erik Cole tied the game at 2.
"I'm not blaming Lucic for that," said coach Claude Julien. "But maybe we have to be smarter about it."
Julien said that with a two-goal lead, there was no reason to give Carolina any momentum.
Split-squad day
Lucic, Krejci, Kessel, Jeremy Reich, Vladimir Sobotka, Shawn Thornton, Peter Schaefer, Petteri Nokelainen, and Alex Auld dressed at BankAtlantic Center yesterday, then took a bus to the Panthers' practice facility in Coral Springs, where they skated under the watch of assistant coaches Geoff Ward and Doug Houda and team vice president Cam Neely. The rest of the team remained at BankAtlantic for treatment and off-ice workouts. Florida's home rink was unavailable because of a Van Halen concert . . . Frank Lodato, the Bruins' Florida-based psychologist, visited the team . . . Julien said he's received positive reports on Andrew Alberts (neck) and Patrice Bergeron (concussion), who are continuing their off-ice workouts at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington, Mass., without setbacks . . . No word on when Schaefer, out six games with a shin contusion, might get back. "When you're winning, it becomes harder, right? I'd like to make a spot for him," Julien said. "But I'm not going to give it to him."Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com.
