Erik Cole didn’t need overtime for a game-winner this time, scoring with 1:19 remaining to give Carolina a 3-2 victory over the Thrashers on Sunday at Philips Arena.
The Hurricanes forward previously had two overtime goals against the Thrashers this season.
Carolina (27-22-8, 62 points), with a game in hand, holds a two-point lead over the Thrashers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Hurricanes, who lost in overtime in Tampa Bay on Saturday night after tying the game with a pair of goals in the final 52 seconds.
The Thrashers (25-23-10, 60 points) have dropped all four meetings against their division rival this season (0-1-3). The Thrashers also must be concerned with Buffalo, which is just two points behind the ninth spot.
“You can’t change what happened,” Thrashers defenseman Zach Bogosian said. “It’s never good to lose, but to lose against Carolina, when its such a tight race, is tough.”
An injury depleted Thrashers team lost rookie forward Alexander Burmistrov before the game with a cracked bone in his foot. Yet with 24 games remaining, coach Craig Ramsay said his team can still make the playoffs. And with 15 days until the Feb. 28 trade deadline, he still believes the Thrashers can get there as currently constructed.
“I coach who is here,” said Ramsay, who leave roster decisions up to team management. “I coach who shows up. … I’m not telling our team to do anything. I’m telling our players to trust in what we are doing and find a way to get the job done. We had every opportunity tonight to win this game and we didn’t. We should have gotten points, wins, in the last four at least.
"If we play like that we can win a lot of games. If we play like that we will win a lot of games and we will make the playoffs. You have to trust. I trust them. They have to trust what I’m telling them.”
The Thrashers dominated much of the play, out-shooting the Hurricanes 43-17. They allowed just nine shots in the final two periods only to surrender two goals.
As Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward made 41 saves, the Thrashers erased two one-goal deficits. Andrew Ladd scored both Thrashers goals, unassisted, on breakaways. His second goal, and team-leading 19th, tied the game 26 seconds into the final period.
However, the Thrashers captain did not seal the wall late in the game, enabling the Hurricanes to keep the puck in the offensive zone and score the game-winner. Ian White whacked at the puck to keep it inside the blue line. Sergei Samsonov took control and slid a pass to Cole, and the right wing wristed a shot past Thrashers goaltender Ondrej Pavelec.
“It’s a tough one,” Ladd said. “I thought we outplayed them for the majority of the game. You still have to bear down at certain points. We need big plays at the end. I have to make sure that puck doesn’t get down and gets out of the zone. We have to find some way to keep those out of the net.”
The Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead into the final period, which has meant sure victory this season. They improved to 18-0-0 when leading after two periods.
They took their second lead with 1:36 remaining in the second period on a goal by Joe Corvo. Despite finishing the period with a 20-5 shots-on-goal advantage, the Thrashers slipped up. Rookie Jeff Skinner skated with a puck behind the Thrashers net and slid a pass to Brandon Sutter. He found Corvo closing in on the net and the defenseman slapped a shot that beat Pavelec.
Jiri Tlusty scored at the 9:06 mark of the first period to get the Hurricanes started.
The Thrashers answered with Ladd’s 18th goal, a career-high for him and coming 3:20 into the second period. Ladd blocked a point shot from Corvo and got to the puck first for a breakaway. Ladd nearly lost the puck but recovered to sneak it past Ward for the equalizer.
“If you keep putting the puck on the net, good things will happen,” Ramsay said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way. We must maintain our values. We must maintain our effort and follow-through with the process. The process is to win some battles and put the puck in the net.”
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