Thrashers continue road dominance, rally to beat Panthers in shootout

By Bud L. Ellis

For most, there is no place like home. For the Atlanta Thrashers, there is no place like away from home.

The Thrashers improved their stellar road record to 9-2-1, earning a 2-1 shutout victory at Florida to open a four-game road trip.

It looked like Atlanta, which saw its three-game winning streak snapped by the Islanders Thursday night at Philips Arena, was heading to a second-consecutive loss. Stephen Weiss beat Johan Hedberg early in the third period, snapping a scoreless duel between Hedberg and Florida netminder Tomas Vokoun.

But Ilya Kovalchuk found the net with 64 seconds left in regulation, off assists from Max Afinogenov and Toby Enstrom, Kovy’s 16th of the season tying the game at 1-1.

After a scoreless overtime, Rich Peverly scored the game winner in the shootout for Atlanta, which won for the fifth time in its last six outings.

Encouraging for Atlanta is the fact the Thrashers outshot the Panthers 38-31

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Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 11:13 pm by bud

Tags: Atlanta Thrashers, Florida Panthers, Ilya Kovalchuk, Johan Hedberg, Max Afinogenov, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, Philips Arena, Rich Peverly, Stephen Weiss, Toby Enstrom, Tomas Vokoun