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Monday, Dec. 6 7:30pm ET
Robitaille's OT goal gives Preds win over Thrashers | |||||
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ATLANTA (AP) -- Randy Robitaille was traded before he ever got a chance to play in Atlanta. The Thrashers might wish they had him back. Robitaille scored at 2:26 of overtime to give the once-slumping Nashville Predators their second straight victory, 4-3 over the Thrashers on Monday night. Ville Peltonen stole the puck from David Harlock in the Atlanta zone and fed a cross-ice pass to Robitaille, who easily scored his fourth goal of the season, slipping the shot past goaltender Norm Maracle. "It was a quick two-on-one," Robitaille said. "I didn't really see the puck. I think it went off the post." Robitaille was acquired by the Thrashers in an expansion-draft trade, but was dealt to Nashville for Denny Lambert before ever playing a game for Atlanta. "I feel good for Randy. He's a very talented player," said Andrew Brunette, who was traded from Nashville to Atlanta in another deal between the NHL's newest teams. "But I think we made out OK getting Denny." The Predators have won two in a row after a seven-game losing streak. They also ended the first two-game winning streak in Atlanta's brief history, through the Thrashers still earned a point. "A win would have been absolutely huge," coach Curt Fraser said. "But I can't be complaining too much. We got five out of six points. If we can get five out of six every three games, I'll take that." Cliff Ronning scored twice for Nashville, which couldn't hold leads of 2-0 and 3-1. "We started off playing strong, but they never quit," Ronning said. "We just got fortunate in overtime." Brunette scored his career-high 12th goal at 5:43 of the second period to cut the deficit to 3-2, knocking in a rebound after Nashville goaltender Mike Dunham stopped the initial shot by Patrik Stefan. Stefan, the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft, was at the center of the tying goal, as well. Brunette failed to finish a two-on-one, missing a wide-open net after taking a pass from Stefan. But the rookie retrieved the puck behind the net and passed to Dean Sylvester, who stuffed in his fifth goal before Dunham could scramble back into position. Ronning gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 9:06 of the first period with an unassisted goal, beating Maracle with a backhander from the right faceoff circle. Sebastien Bordeleau made it 2-0 with another unassisted goal at 14:42, flipping in a soft shot that eluded Maracle through a screen. "In the first period, I let in a couple of bad goals," said Maracle, who stopped 19 of 23 shots. "I should have had those." Mike Stapleton, scoring for the third time in two games, brought the Thrashers within 2-1 before the opening period was over. Ray Ferraro worked the puck off the left boards and passed to Stapleton, who scored his fourth goal overall with a blast over Dunham's glove at 17:41. But Ronning scored off a pass from Drake Berehowsky during a four-on-four just 27 seconds into the second period, restoring the Predators' two-goal lead. It was the first meeting between the Thrashers, who entered the league this season, and the neighboring Predators, who are in their second year. Even though the Southern cities are only about 200 miles apart, the teams are in different conferences and will meet only one other time this season, Dec. 30 in Nashville. "It would be nice to play them more," Brunette said. "I think we would offer a real good rivalry." | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Nashville Clubhouse Atlanta Clubhouse RECAPS Nashville 4 Atlanta 3 AUDIO/VIDEO   Sebastien Bordeleau scores on the slap shot.avi: 673 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||