Thrashers fall to Red Wings

The Thrashers have been a winning team the past month and a half. The Detroit Red Wings have been the NHL’s best team a lot longer.

The difference was obvious Friday night at Philips Arena, where the team that won last season’s Stanley Cup and leads this season’s standings doubled the Thrashers 6-3.

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Mikki K. Harris / AJC

The Red Wings who gather to celebrate a goal include Pavel Datsyuk, who made it 2-0.

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“That was a good test for us, I think,” Thrashers alternate captain Slava Kozlov said. “We didn’t pass it.”

“They control the puck so well, sometimes it feels like we are on the penalty kill all the time that we’re not,” Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen said. “It was a good learning experience for everybody that we have to be better.”

The Thrashers had won six of their past seven games; Lehtonen had won five in a row. But in a single game against the Red Wings he allowed as many goals as he had in the five previous victories.

On offense, the Thrashers generated scoring chances but no goals until midway through the third period, after the Red Wings had taken a 4-0 lead.

It’s one thing to beat Colorado, Edmonton and even Montreal. It’s quite a different thing to take on a Detroit team that’s rounding into playoff shape. Even the new-look Thrashers, the ones that can compete against most NHL teams, weren’t up to the task of beating Detroit.

“They’re at a different stage,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said. “We’re still in the growing stage, and they’re grown up.”

Chris Osgood stopped the Thrashers’ first 28 shots. Johan Franzen had a goal and two assists, and Henrik Zetterberg had four assists as Detroit pulled three points ahead of San Jose atop the league standings.

The Thrashers’ first home sellout crowd since the season opener was about equally divided between fans of Atlanta and Detroit. There was a mixture of cheers and boos when Detroit’s Marian Hossa scored in his first game at Philips Arena since the Thrashers traded him at last season’s deadline.

“I enjoyed the atmosphere,” Hossa told reporters. “I think it’s good for every player to score against a former team.”

The Thrashers seemed to enjoy having 18,545 onlookers, too.

“Lately, we haven’t seen a lot of fans, so we were happy,” Kozlov said. “It doesn’t matter whether it was Red Wings fans or ours.”

The game turned 12 minutes into the second period, when Ilya Kovalchuk’s 35-foot wrist shot beat Osgood and bounced through the crease but just wide of the far post, inches from tying the game.

Ten seconds later, Pavel Datsyuk scored. Two minutes after that, Jiri Hudler scored. It was 3-0, and though it was still the second period the game was essentially done.

Kovalchuk was playing for the first time since hurting his back last week. He assisted on a goal by Kozlov, hit a slap shot off the crossbar and set up Rich Peverley for one of the Thrashers’ best scoring chances.

Bryan Little and Colin Stuart also scored for Atlanta. It was Stuart’s first even-strength goal of the season.

Brian Rafalksi and Dan Cleary also scored for the Red Wings.

The six goals were the most Lehtonen had allowed since yielding seven Jan. 10 at Florida.

The Thrashers play Saturday night at Tampa Bay. Fortunately for them, they’re in the Eastern Conference and have to play the Red Wings only once or twice a year. Other teams have perhaps a few good players; Detroit has several great ones.

“They have some skilled guys even on the third line,” Lehtonen said. “That’s rare.”