Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Ilya Kovalchuk scored a pair of second-period
goals to lift the Atlanta Thrashers over the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-2, at
Philips Arena.
Marc Savard, Jim Slater and Victor Kozlov also scored for the Thrashers, who
ended a two-game slide and pulled within five points of Tampa Bay for the
final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Lightning lost to the
Panthers 4-2 on Saturday night.
Kari Lehtonen made 33 saves for Atlanta, which has 78 points with nine games
remaining. The defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning have 83 points with
eight games left. The Thrashers and Lightning play each other two more
times this season.
"Everybody is still believing that (we have a chance at the playoffs) and we
just have to play like this every night," said Lehtonen. "It's good to see the
team come together like this -- when it counts the most."
Matt Cullen had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who claimed the
Southeast Division crown on Friday night but have still dropped five
of their last eight contests.
Atlanta started the scoring 11:39 into the game when Savard converted a
penalty shot. Savard drew the penalty when he had his stick knocked from his
hands on a breakaway by Carolina netminder Cam Ward.
Just over two minutes later, Slater extended the Thrashers lead to two goals
when got behind the Hurricanes defense and deposited a backhander past Ward.
Kovalchuk then took over in the second, helping the Thrashers pull away.
First, he picked up a loose puck at the top of the left circle in his
offensive zone, skated to the bottom of the circle and beat Ward with a
wrister for a 3-0 lead just 4:03 into the frame.
Then, after Cullen's slapper from between the circles cut the Hurricanes'
deficit to 3-1 at the 12:34 mark, Kovalchuk extended the lead back to three
goals when he netted a breakaway opportunity 56 seconds later.
"I don't think about how many goals I'm going to score," said Kovalchuk, who
has 47 this season. "I don't care. I would give up all my goals for the eighth
playoff spot."
Kozlov then redirected an Andy Sutton pass by Ward from the slot to force Ward
from the game with 5:14 remaining in the second.
Rod Brind'Amour added a breakaway, shorthanded goal with 54 seconds left in
the second, drawing the Hurricanes within three goals, but that was all the
scoring Carolina mustered.
The two teams skated out the final 20 minutes without another score.
Ward ended with 13 saves, while his replacement Martin Gerber stopped all
eight shots he faced.
"We knew they were a desperate team," said Gerber. "This is their last chance
to make it. I thought we were confident going into the game. We lost a little
step in the first period. Things just didn't go our way."
The Thrashers ended a four-game losing streak to the Hurricanes, drawing
within 4-3 in the season series with one game remaining.
