The Canucks made their scoring chances count. The Thrashers did not.
It was that simple -- and that close.
Vancouver scored two second-period goals en route to a 3-1 victory over the Thrashers on Friday night at Philips Arena. The loss to the top team in the NHL moved the Thrashers a step closer to elimination from the playoff race.
The Thrashers (31-31-12, 74 points) are 11th in the Eastern Conference, nine points behind Buffalo for the eighth and final playoff spot with eight games remaining. Buffalo defeated Florida 4-2 on Friday to increase their advantage. The Thrashers also fell further behind nine-place Carolina, which defeated Tampa Bay.
“Five minutes,” Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said of the difference in the game. “Five minutes where we tried to do a little too much and we got trapped. Against a good team you can’t get stuck where you are trapped on the ice. ... But it was five minutes. Other than that it was a wonderful game.”
After a scoreless first period, the Canucks got on the board with a goal by Mason Raymond 5:08 into the second. After an offensive-zone turnover, the Canucks raced up the ice and Raymond wristed a shot on Thrashers goaltender Chris Mason. The puck trickled between Mason’s legs.
The goal came after Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo stuffed two prime scoring opportunities. Defenseman Mark Stuart joined a rush and blasted a pass from Rob Schremp on goal 2:17 into the second period, but Luongo snuffed the opportunity. Just 1:09 later, Blake Wheeler blistered a shot on goal after a pass from Andrew Ladd that was denied.
Ladd also was denied from the doorstep in the second period and on a breakaway in the third.
“Their goalie made some big saves at key moments,” Ladd said. “They got some good looks. We gave them a few too many chances, and a team as talented as that is going to cash in.”
Alexandre Bolduc was on the receiving end of a long pass up center ice and fired a shot that beat Mason to the high glove side at the 12:24 mark of the second period for the game-winner.
“The second goal was really a killer,” Ramsay said. “We had the puck and then changed. Three guys changed on the play and allowed them the two-on-one.”
A two-goal lead proved to be insurmountable. The Canucks improved to 35-0-3 when leading after two periods.
Bryan Little scored on a breakaway with 5:03 remaining to avert the shutout. It was Little's 16th goal of the season and second in four games as the Thrashers finally got a puck past Luongo.
“I didn’t even think we were going to get one [goal],” Little said. “We played good in the first period. We didn’t play a bad game. We had some good chances in the third.
"Seven or eight minutes in the second period, they were all over us in our end. They took advantage. That’s all a team like that needs.”
Vancouver (49-17-9, 107 points) iced it on Alexandre Burrows' empty-net goal with 13 seconds remaining and the Thrashers skating with a 6-on-4 advantage.
Mason came up huge in the first period when he stopped a penalty shot by the NHL’s leading scorer, Daniel Sedin. Another long pass up the center of the ice set up a Sedin breakaway, and defenseman Ron Hainsey tripped him in an effort to stop the rush.
Mason finished with 23 saves as the Thrashers lost despite not allowing a point to either Daniel or Henrik Sedin, the top two scorers in the NHL.
“It’s disappointing to lose obviously because with every loss we understand our chances are slipping away,” Mason said.
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