Carolina’s 3rd-period flurry downs Thrashers

Even the Thrashers’ first hat trick of the season wasn’t enough to give them their first winning streak in more than a month.

That’s because the Carolina Hurricanes’ Eric Staal matched Bryan Little’s three goals and got a bit more support from his teammates Friday night at Philips Arena. The Hurricanes won 5-4.

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Allen Sullivan/aesullivan@ajc.com

Thrashers center Bryan Little scores one of two second-period goals on Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward, Friday at Philips Arena.

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Little gave the Thrashers leads of 3-2 and 4-3, but Staal tied it each time. Then he went coast-to-coast for the game-winner with 8:02 left. It was Staal’s third goal in 4:31, and he carried the puck past forward Jason Williams and defenseman Nathan Oystrick to score it.

“We didn’t play it properly from the forward to the ‘D’,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said.

But goalie Johan Hedberg blamed himself.

“My third period was probably the worst I played all year, and a very bad time, and I think it cost us the game,” Hedberg said. “It’s unfortunate. I felt like I let the boys down there.”

Hedberg stopped 34 shots. Carolina’s Cam Ward stopped 27.

The guy Ward couldn’t stop was Little, who got his first hat trick since junior hockey and has scored five goals in his past two games. All five came because Little, who isn’t big, was able to get and keep position in front of the net long enough to knock in a rebound or deflect home a shot. He has scored more goals in the past two games than he had in the previous six weeks.

“I used to not score many goals like that in front of the net, but the last two games it seems like everything is bouncing my way,” Little said, as he sat next to a pile of caps stacked in the locker stall beside him. “I’m not great at deflecting pucks, but I got my stick on a couple tonight.”

At 5 feet 11, 185 pounds, he needs to be smart as well as tough.

“I try to think ahead,” Little said. “When I see one of our defensemen about to shoot, I try to get position at the last second. The [first] goal I was actually off balance when I tipped it.”

Little leads the Thrashers with 17 goals. Todd White scored the Thrashers’ other goal and extended his point-scoring streak to eight games, the longest on the team this season. Slava Kozlov assisted on all of the Thrashers’ goals; it was the third time in his 17-season NHL career he had four assists in a game. Ron Hainsey, who missed the morning skate because of illness, not only played but assisted on two goals.

But Ilya Kovalchuk’s goal-scoring drought continued. It has reached seven games, his longest since 2003. He has scored only 11 goals all season, fourth on the team.

The Thrashers once again failed to win a second consecutive game. Their last winning streak came in the first half of November.

Southeast Division-rival Carolina has gotten at least a point from eight of its past 10 games.

The Hurricanes played with only five defensemen because of a pregame injury to Dennis Seidenberg. But the Hurricanes got goals from Chad LaRose and Patrick Eaves, three assists from Ray Whitney and big nights from Ward and, especially, Staal. His final two goals were unassisted.

“The big fella turns it on in the third period, and off we go,” Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said. “We think he is one of the great players in the game.”