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Sunday, Dec. 26 7:00pm ET
Thrashers get first win since Dec. 4 | |||||
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BOX SCORE
ATLANTA (AP) -- Curt Fraser wishes his Atlanta Thrashers would approach every game as if they were playing the Tampa Bay Lightning. The first-year coach watched as Shean Donovan and Steve Staois scored 30 seconds apart in the third period to break open a tie game in a 6-3 win Sunday night. "You know, we seem to play well against this team every time," said Fraser, whose expansion Thrashers raised their record to 3-0-1 against Tampa Bay. "They got rewarded for their hard work tonight." Tampa Bay, which came back twice to forge a tie in the final period, lost its third straight game and remained winless in its last six. With 28 points, the fourth-place Lightning hold a six-point lead over last-place Atlanta in the Southeast Division. The Thrashers won for the first time since Dec. 4. "The guys hung in there. They are very resilient," Fraser said. "They just kept working and finally got rewarded." Donovan scored the game-winner with 4:33 remaining by faking a pass to the slot and then skating to the right side of the crease where he snuck the puck past Kevin Hodson. Staios' goal, from 25 feet out, came at the 4:03 mark for a 5-3 Thrashers lead. Nelson Emerson scored an empty-net goal with 2:40 left. "It was a funny feeling tonight," Staios said after scoring his first goal of the season. "I felt complete confidence in our team tonight." Hodson, whose record dropped to 2-3-4, made 20 saves. He has not won since Nov. 18. Pavel Kubina tied the game 3-3 with 5:58 to play on a 25-foot slap shot. Atlanta goalie Norm Maracle earlier allowed Chris Gratton to tie it 2-2 with 13:33 remaining. Gratton received the puck in the slot after Darcy Tucker made a pass under the legs of Atlanta defenseman Gord Murphy. In expressing disappointment in his third-period lapses, Maracle was grateful to end the second period with a 2-1 lead. "Those were a couple of big goals to start the game," said Maracle, who stopped 21 shots to improve to 3-7-1. "I'm glad we came back and scored again." Andrew Brunette gave the Thrashers a brief 3-2 lead by scoring his team-high 15th goal with 7:08 remaining. On a breakaway, Darryl Shannon sent Lightning defenseman Ian Herbers sprawling on top of the ice by faking a pass to Brunette, who was skating toward the right side of the crease. Shannon instead waited until he was nearly past the left post before shooting the puck back across the crease to Brunette, who scored easily. Afterward, Lightning coach Steve Ludzik was extremely frustrated. "Guys are going to sit," he said. "Guys are going to sit. Guys are going to sit -- bottom line. I'm not going to beg guys to play hockey. (Andrei) Zyuzin got blown by twice, and a slap shot from 60 feet out sinks us -- from Staios. "The guys that are going to work are going to play." Ray Ferraro gave Atlanta a 2-1 lead at the 15:05 mark of the second period when he jabbed the puck under Hodson's left leg in the crease. The Lightning appeared to tie the game with 17:56 remaining in the period, but the goal was disallowed when Steve Guolloa knocked the puck in with a high stick. Guolla's goal from the top of the right circle gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at the 11:06 mark of the first period on the game's only power-play goal. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Tampa Bay Clubhouse Atlanta Clubhouse RECAPS New Jersey 3 NY Rangers 3
Atlanta 6
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