Johan Hedberg started in goal for the third consecutive game Thursday in Philadelphia. Hedberg had allowed one goal in each of his past four starts. Over that span, Hedberg had stopped 111 of 115 shots for a .965 save percentage.
Hedberg allowed three goals Thursday, but came away with a victory. He is now 3-1-1 in his past five starts.
“If you look around the league everybody is tightening up, and there are a lot of teams begging for scoring,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said. “I think you are going to see a lot of one-, two-goal games. If our goaltending holds up like it has, I like our chances.”
*No distraction: Anderson was asked Thursday if the ongoing Ilya Kovalchuk contract negotiations have become a distraction.
“I certainly haven’t seen a ton of signs [that Kovalchuk is distracted],” Anderson said. “If Kovy has a bad game, we just can’t go and say that’s the reason. Sometimes a player has a bad game. It is what it is. So far I haven’t seen it in the dressing room. I hope it doesn’t rear its ugly head. Hopefully everything gets done and we don’t have to talk about this anymore.”
*Kozlov out: Slava Kozlov was a healthy scratch for the third consecutive game. The veteran forward had his franchise-record streak of 251 consecutive games played snapped last week. Kozlov stayed on the ice long after teammates finished their morning skate Thursday. Defenseman Mark Popovic was the other scratch.
*King of faceoffs: Jim Slater leads the NHL in percentage of faceoffs won at 64.8 percent (with a minimum of 20). Slater is 125-68 in his 193 faceoffs. The only players with a higher winning percentage have taken 18 or fewer faceoffs.
*Reunion: Former Thrashers’ No. 1 pick Braydon Coburn (No. 8 overall, 2003) has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 50 games this season for the Flyers. The defenseman is a minus-8.
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