The Thrashers went out fighting.
It was Evander Kane who delivered the biggest blow. Just ask Matt Cooke ... if he remembers.
After Kane and Penguins star Sidney Crosby were involved in two incidents in the first period, mostly shoving and words, Cooke made a run at the Thrashers rookie early in the second. Big mistake. Kane immediately dropped his gloves, grabbed Cooke and landed two vicious rights to the jaw. Cooke crumpled to the ice and lay motionless for several minutes. A stretcher was brought on the ice, but Cooke eventually left the under his own power. He did not return to the game.
Eric Boulton took on Eric Godard later in the period in a lengthy bout where both landed big punches.
As for the Thrashers’ season finale, they defeated the Penguins 1-0 on Saturday at a sold-out Philips Arena and end their season 35-34-13 (83 points). The Thrashers ended a four-game losing streak and defeated the Penguins for the first time this season.
“He challenged me, and I wasn’t going to back down from that,” said Kane, who, remember, was named after former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield. “It’s part of the game. He came up to me and asked me to fight, and I wasn’t going to back down. Something like that is part of hockey.
"It was unfortunate that he got hurt on the play. You never want to see someone get hurt. It’s part of the game.”
Clearly, the Penguins took exception to the Thrashers' treatment of Crosby. Get used to it, Thrashers coach John Anderson said. It’s part of the game.
“We are trying to play a certain style,” Anderson said. “If someone takes exception to whoever gets hit out there, we don’t look at the number. We are trying to knock them on their rear end every time. If somebody gets hit, does that mean you start a fight because of that? I don’t get it?
“Crosby is so great for this game and is a wonderful player, but you’re going to get hit out there a little bit. As much as you don’t want to see him get hurt, but he’s going to get hit because he has the puck so much. How else do you take it off him? It’s part of the game.
"Every time he gets body checked does that mean somebody is going to get attacked? Clearly, Cooke came out after an 18-year-old rookie. What goes around, comes around. That’s all I can tell you.”
Bryan Little scored in the second period for the Thrashers, his 13th goal of the season, on assists from Clarke MacArthur and Slava Kozlov.
Johan Hedberg stopped all 33 shots to earn his third shutout of the season.
“Even though we have been extremely disappointed the last few days here, you have to play for your fans and you have to play for your pride,” Hedberg said. “We did all that tonight. I was happy to see the fans come out. It was a great atmosphere in the building, and it leaves you with a good taste for the summer. Even though we are disappointed, I think we did a lot of things better this year than last year. … You have to keep building.
"Rome wasn’t built in one day. Hopefully this is a step that will carry us.”
Boulton and Godard’s second-period fight was long in the making, dating to last week’s physical game in Pittsburgh.
“It was just a matter of time before he and I got matched up together,” Boulton said. “It was a good, spirited fight. It was getting chippy and you have to make sure you stand up for yourselves.”
Did Boulton, the franchise leader in penalty minutes, give Kane any fighting lessons?
“He doesn’t need any right now,” Boulton said. “He did a great job.”
The Thrashers played short-handed because of injury -- again. Already without three regulars, Jim Slater left the game in the first period after blocking a shot with his left foot during a penalty kill.
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