Thrashers prospect has stick in Hall of Fame

GOLD MEDALIST

Add one more Thrashers-related exhibit to the Hockey Hall of Fame. The stick with which prospect Angelo Esposito scored the winning goal for Canada on Monday night in the gold-medal game of the World Junior Championship is heading for the shrine in Toronto. Esposito, 19, had the second goal in Canada’s 5-1 victory over Sweden. It was extra special for Esposito because of his history with Team Canada: He was cut from the squad in three previous years before making it this time. “I think it sends a special message to all the kids who play sports, and who don’t play sports, that they should never give up, that they should always keep working to fulfill their dream — and if they work hard enough, that maybe one day their dream will be fulfilled,” his father, John Esposito, told CTV’s Canada AM.

BREAKTHROUGH NEEDED

Thrashers forward Eric Perrin got back into the lineup Tuesday night thanks to Bryan Little’s bruised ribs. Perrin, a healthy scratch in the first two games of 2009, had gone scoreless in the previous six games he played and had only two goals and an assist in December.

PENGUIN DREAMS

Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen entered Tuesday’s game with a better winning percentage against the Penguins than against any other NHL team he had played more than once. Lehtonen was 6-1-2 against Pittsburgh. The only teams he has beaten more often are Southeast Division-rivals Florida, Tampa Bay and Washington.

MAKE WAY

Thrashers center Marty Reasoner prides himself on his defense, but sometimes the fates conspire against him. That’s what happened last week against Vancouver, when a referee got in Reasoner’s way and allowed Henrik Sedin to get free for a goal assisted by his brother, Daniel. “That was a pretty helpless feeling,” Reasoner said. “You’re not only fighting two guys who are like Siamese twins that know where they are all the time on the ice, it’s a never-ending washing machine cycle going on where they’re throwing the puck all over the place, and to run into the ref, that was too much for me to handle. There’s two or three goals scored every year where the ref or the linesman gets in the way. It’s just one of those things.”