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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ATLANTA (AP) -- The Atlanta Thrashers were less than three
minutes from being a .500 team for the first time in franchise
history.
|  | | Washington's Joe Murphy introduces himself to defenseman Steve Staios. |
Then Jeff Halpern ruined their plans.
Halpern scored off a rebound with 2:23 remaining in the third
period and the Washington Capitals tied Atlanta 3-3 Wednesday
night.
The Thrashers (0-1-1) won only 14 games in their inaugural
season, but look more competitive in the early stages of their
second campaign.
"We're so hungry for it to happen," Atlanta coach Curt Fraser
said. "We put ourselves in position to win, then we make one bad
play at our end. But we've improved 100 percent over last year."
Ray Ferraro put the Thrashers ahead with 5:58 remaining, but
they couldn't make it stand.
With the Capitals swarming the net, Atlanta goalie Damian Rhodes
stopped a shot by Ulf Dahlen. Halpern pounced on the rebound and
buried a high shot from the right side.
Still, Washington remained winless at 0-1-2.
"We're disappointed," Halpern said. "We wanted to get things
going. We wanted to get that first victory out of the way. I don't
think we put out our best effort."
Atlanta's Donald Audette scored a pair of power-play goals in
the first period and assisted on Ferraro's goal, which also came
with a man advantage for the Thrashers.
Washington's Joe Murphy was sitting out a cross-checking penalty
when Tomi Kallio shot from a bad angle and the puck slipped between
Capitals goalie Craig Billington and defenseman Ken Klee.
Ferraro, lurking on the opposite side, slammed the loose puck
into the net for his first goal of the season.
The Philips Arena crowd of 11,414 was the smallest in franchise
history. The lowest turnout of Atlanta's inaugural season was
14,311.
"To tell you the truth, I don't even notice," Fraser said.
"I'm so into the game, I wouldn't notice if there were five people
in the stands or 20,000."
The first two goals of the game came just seven seconds apart.
Audette put the Thrashers ahead at 7:36 of the opening period,
knocking in a rebound, only to have teammate David Harlock make a
horrible cross-ice pass that was picked off by Peter Bondra.
Bondra put a wrist shot past the surprised Rhodes at 7:43.
Audette scored again at 9:07 of the first, redirecting a shot
past Billington from the slot.
Sergei Gonchar, playing his first game after a training-camp
holdout, tied it again for Washington. He used Atlanta's Steve
Guolla as a screen before flipping a wrist shot past Rhodes.
Adam Oates received an assist on the play, making him the 29th
player in NHL history to reach 1,200 points.
Steve Konowalchuk received a game misconduct with four minutes
left in the first when he checked Petr Buzek from behind, sending
the Atlanta player's head into the boards.
Buzek left the ice with a sprained neck and didn't return.
"He was along the boards and I honestly thought I hit him from
the side," Konowalchuk said. "If they are going to call things
that way, that much tighter, then we've got to really watch what
we're doing."
The Capitals spent much of the night killing penalties,
including Konowalchuk's five-minute infraction and another sequence
when Atlanta had a 5-on-3 advantage for two minutes.
The Thrashers went 3-of-11 on the power play.
Game notes
Billington made his third straight start in place of Vezina
Trophy winner Olaf Kolzig, still recovering from arthroscopic knee
surgery 15 days earlier. ... Washington didn't reach 10 shots until
early in the third period but wound up trailing only 30-24 at the
end of overtime. ... Audette has 25 multiple-goal game of his
career. He has either scored or assisted on all four Atlanta goals
this season. ... Patrik Stefan missed his second straight game for
the Thrashers while recovering from a groin strain.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Washington Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Rangers 3
Montreal 1
Washington 3
Atlanta 3
Edmonton 4
Detroit 3
Toronto 3
NY Islanders 2
Philadelphia 3
Minnesota 3
St. Louis 4
Los Angeles 4
Boston 3
Anaheim 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Atlanta's Donald Audette scores off the rebound.
avi: 926 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Donald Audette scores his second goal of the game on Craig Billington.
avi: 776 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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