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Penguins beat Thrashers to take share of top spot
2008-03-03
Rookie Kris Letang's shootout goal lifted the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Sunday and into a tie for the points lead in the Eastern Conference. The win also moved Pittsburgh past New Jersey into the Atlantic Division lead and extended the Thrashers' losing streak to seven in a row. Netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, making his first start since early December, played a big role in the Pittsburgh victory. Fleury, who had not started since spraining an ankle December 6, stopped 31 shots in regulation and overtime and did not allow a goal in the shootout. "He was solid," Penguins coach Michel Therrien told reporters. Ryan Malone and Maxime Talbot sparked Pittsburgh to a 2-0 lead in the opening two minutes of the game. "We just kind of put it into neutral (when it was 2-0) and figured it was over," Malone told reporters. "We don't want to make a habit of that." Jim Slater's goal for Atlanta made it 2-1 about 12 minutes later. The Thrashers tied it at 2-2 on Slava Kozlov's goal 1:11 into the third period. Neither team scored in overtime and Letang was the only player to collect a goal in the shootout. * Craig Anderson made 53 saves, including 29 in the second period when the Florida Panthers shut out the New York Islanders to win 1-0 on David Booth's first-period goal. * The New York Rangers used shootout goals by Brendan Shanahan and Nigel Dawes to top the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4. New York netminder Steve Valiquette stopped both of Philadelphia's shootout efforts. He also had 17 saves in regulation and overtime after taking over for Henrik Lundqvist in the second period. * Valtteri Filppula and Johan Franzen both had a goal and an assist in the Detroit Red Wings' 4-2 road win over the Buffalo Sabres. * Martin Skoula's goal with 1:15 in overtime sparked the Northwest Division-leading Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 home win over the Los Angeles Kings. * Rookie Patrick Kane scored twice and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-1. * The Edmonton Oilers won their fourth game in a row, edging the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 on Ales Hemsky's shootout goal. (Writing by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina, editing by Martin Petty)
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