Armstrong’s back-to-back goals lift Thrashers

Ottawa — Ondrej Pavelec punched the air when the horn sounded Tuesday night, and it wasn’t in frustration.

He had come within 1:18 and one save of his first NHL shutout, only to have the Ottawa Senators’ 29th and final shot on goal go over his glove. But he had accomplished something even more important. He had won, 4-1.

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AP

Thrashers’ Colby Armstrong scored a pair of goals 31 seconds apart in the third period.

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The Thrashers needed it. He needed it. And he delivered, bouncing back from a three-goals-in-four-shots nightmare against the Bruins on Friday to deliver his best performance of the season and his first victory in more than a month.

“My last five games, I lost, and the team, we needed this win,” Pavelec said. “That’s why I was celebrating. It’s huge for us.”

Slava Kozlov scored his team-high 14th goal of the season on a first-period power play, but it wasn’t until Colby Armstrong scored two goals 31 seconds apart in the third period that the Thrashers and Pavelec could feel confident they were going to win.

As important as that offense was, the Thrashers played one of their best defensive games of the season.

“[Pavelec] played very, very well, but I thought we played well in front of him, too,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said. “That’s our best win so far on the road. We’re just starting to learn to win on the road.”

The Thrashers started the night tied for fewest points in the NHL standings but pulled ahead of the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning, and within three points of Ottawa. They had won just one of their last nine games and two of their last 13.

“It’s nice to be able to smile after a game for a change, eh?” Anderson said.

One reason was the big night from his 21-year-old Czech goalie. Another was the solid play of the guys in front of him.

The Senators have scored an NHL-low 67 goals this season, but five of them came the last time they played Atlanta. The Thrashers were determined not to get embarrassed that way again. They took the pressure off the league’s worst penalty kill unit by staying out of the box … or making sure a Senator went in with them. Ottawa had four power plays, lasting just 5:01.

Still, Atlanta needed some offense, and it came midway through the opening period.

Todd White passed to Ron Hainsey, whose shot from the blue line got through to Kozlov to the right of the net. Kozlov raised his stick several inches and deflected the puck off the shaft and past Martin Gerber for a 1-0 Thrashers lead.

It was the first time in 10 games the Thrashers scored first. They’re now 7-3-1 when they do that, 3-13-3 when they don’t.

They were hanging on by every Pavelec save through the second period and into the third, but a hooking penalty on former Thrasher Dany Heatley created an opportunity. Armstrong cashed in with a power-play, wraparound goal. Thirty-one seconds later, he scored again, on a tap-in. It was 3-0 (White would later add an empty-net goal), and the big question became whether Pavelec would get his shutout.

He made save after save, even snuck a few glances at the scoreboard clock to see how much time remained. Finally, Chris Kelly beat him on a floater Pavelec never saw.

A disappointment? A little. But he has learned to deal with losing shutouts in the closing minutes.

“It happened like eight times last year,” Pavelec said.