Thrashers return from break with key home victory

By Chris Vivlamore

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Thrashers' March to the playoffs has started off on the right foot.

Back from the two-week Olympic break and playing 12 of 17 games at home this month, the Thrashers defeated Florida 4-2 at Philips Arena on Tuesday night.

Atlanta (27-24-10, 64 points) moved to within a point of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 21 games remaining. They are 10^th in the conference, just behind Boston and the New York Rangers who are tied for eighth and two points behind Montreal for seventh. The Thrashers have played two fewer games than the Rangers and three fewer than the Canadiens.

“We couldn’t have started off any better,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said. “We have to beat the teams behind us, beside us and everything else in between. …

“It’s not just home ice, it’s every game. When we looked at the schedule … we thought if we were close after the Olympic break, we knew we had a favorable schedule. What we do with it only time will tell.”

The Thrashers are 3-0-2 in their past five games -- and 3-1-2 since the trade of Ilya Kovalchuk.

The Thrashers broke open a tie game with two second-period goals – one on a power play and the other just a second after a man-advantage expired.

Todd White got the game-winner when his 6th sixth goal of the season gave the Thrashers a 3-2 lead. His goal came at the 7:33 mark, 46 seconds after a delay of game penalty to the Panthers’ Cory Stillman.

The play literally stopped and began with Johan Hedberg. The goaltender came way out of his net to gather a loose put and sent it to Maxim Afinogenov. He skated up the ice and passed to Rich Peverley, who found White in front of the net. A quick shot beat Florida goaltender Scott Clemmensen, making just his 13th appearance of the season.

“He came way out to play the puck and one of their guys went to the bench it gave us the 3-on-2,” White said. “I was going to the net to try to give Peverley space to get a shot away. He made a nice play to dish it back to me.”

Hedberg’s play was not a surprise to Anderson.

“He is the type of guy that has carte blanche to do it because he skates so well,” Anderson said of his goaltender. “He’s as good as some of our forwards. You have to give him space to be creative just like any forward or defenseman.”

Pavel Kubina put Atlanta up by two goals -- for the second time in the game -- when he blasted a shot from the point as a roughing penalty to Bryan Allen expired. It was Kubina’s sixth goal of the season and the defenseman now has five points (one goal, four assists) in the past three games. The Thrashers improved to 12-0-3 on the season when leading after two periods.

The Thrashers finished a scoreless third period by killing off a penalty and an extra Florida skater for the pulled goaltender in the final 1:24.

The Thrashers Atlanta jumped out early with two goals in the first 3:43 of the game. Peverley opened the scoring, firing a drop pass from Afinogenov through the five-hole of Clemmensen at the 2:34 mark. Peverley’s 19th goal of the season came on the Thrashers' Thrashers second shot on goal. Afinogenov took the puck all the way up ice after gathering in a pad save by Hedberg.

Just 1:09 later, the Thrashers took a 2-0 lead as Colby Armstrong scored his 10th goal of the season. Armstrong took a drop pass from Jim Slater and wristed a shot past Clemmensen.

The two-goal cushion didn’t last.

The Panthers answered with a pair of goals later in the period. Captain Stephen Weiss scored his 21st of the season, with 45 seconds remaining on a power play at the 5:58 mark. Weiss knocked in a rebound of a Dennis Seidenberg shot. David Booth next split two defenders and beat Hedberg to tie the game at the 10:45 mark.

“You don’t know where you stand after not playing for two weeks,” said Hedberg, who stopped 34 shots. “We got up 2-0 and they battled back but we didn’t let it bother us. We just kept doing what we were doing.”

Penalties were an issue for the Thrashers. They gave Florida eight power plays, including a 5-on-3 for the final 1:32 of the first period. The Panthers scored just once with 13:08 of the man-advantage.

The victory, in the Thrashers' first home game since Feb. 6, was a perfect start to a critical month as the team attempts to make the playoffs for only the second time.

“We want to move up the standings as quick as we can,” White said. “We’ve got a lot of games here at home coming up and we’ve got to take advantage of it.”