TORONTO — Nik Antropov picked the
perfect time to get his first career goal against his former team,
scoring the winner Tuesday night to help the Atlanta Thrashers keep
their playoff hopes alive with a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple
Leafs.
Antropov tipped a shot past Jonas
Gustavsson at 4:44 of the third period — putting Atlanta back in front
just 57 seconds after Viktor Stalberg had tied the game.
Atlanta remained two points out of the
final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 80 points. Boston,
Montreal and Philadelphia all have 82 points, but all three teams have
played one less game than Atlanta.
Antropov played his first nine seasons
with the Maple Leafs and hadn't recorded a point in three games against
his former team. He finished with a goal and an assist.
Maxim Afinogenov and Evgeny Artyukhin
also scored for Atlanta.
Viktor Stalberg had both goals for the
Maple Leafs.
With the Thrashers playing for the
second time in as many nights, there was very little sense of urgency in
the first period. Both teams were sloppy with passes and failed to
create many quality scoring chances.
However, Atlanta got the break it
needed early in the second period after Leafs defenseman Francois
Beauchemin failed to clear the puck from the defensive zone. Afinogenov
was able to wheel around untouched and beat Gustavsson with a wrist shot
at 6:18.
Artyhukin extended the lead to 2-0
just 46 seconds later, taking a perfect pass from Marty Reasoner and
roofing the puck.
Afinogenov had the chance to put the
game away after jumping off the bench and taking a long breakaway pass,
but Gustavsson managed to stop him.
It proved to be an important save
when Tyler Bozak and Stalberg went back up the ice on a 2-on-1 break.
Bozak appeared to hold the puck too long, but managed to find his fellow
rookie, who banked a shot in off Ondrej Pavelec's skate to make it 2-1
at 17:43.
The Leafs came out hard in the final
period and Stalberg scored his second to even the score. He gathered the
puck in the high slot and beat Pavelec high to the glove at 3:47.
However, Antropov soon responded,
tipping a Ron Hainsey point shot home to help secure an important win.
Toronto had plenty of opportunities
to tie the game with a final power play in the final two minutes, but
Pavelec stood tall.
That sent Gustavsson to his first
loss since before the Olympic break. The rookie goaltender entered with a
seven-game win streak and was hoping to join exclusive company — the
last Leafs goalie to win at least eight straight was Felix Potvin in
October 1993.
Notes
Brayden Irwin was scratched by
the Leafs one day after signing with the team. He's expected to make
his NHL debut on Thursday or Saturday … Toronto's Wayne Primeau and
Jeff Finger also didn't dress … Atlanta sat 48-year-old D Chris
Chelios for the eighth time in nine games … The Leafs had a record of
9-4-2 in March — just their second month above .500 this season.