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Saturday, Mar. 18 7:00pm ET
Thrashers give Leafs some payback | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
TORONTO (AP) -- This time, the boos weren't directed at the Atlanta Thrashers. Hnat Domenichelli had a goal and two assists as the Thrashers ended a 10-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in front of a disappointed sellout crowd at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night. Stephen Guolla, Donald Audette and Yannick Tremblay also scored for the Thrashers, who won for just the second time in 28 games. "Tonight is one of the nights you hope for," Thrashers coach Curt Fraser said. "We got contributions from everybody, and we found a way to beat one of the best teams in the league by being patient. This is a huge win for our hockey club." Igor Korolev scored for the Maple Leafs, who lost their second straight home game to a team out of the playoff picture. Toronto lost 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday before beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in overtime Thursday in Detroit. "You're going to have games like this," Leafs captain Mats Sundin said. "Overall, as a team, we didn't have a good game. Call it whatever you want. It goes to show if you don't have a good game, you're going to lose, no matter who you're playing." It's the Thrashers' first win over the Leafs, who had beaten Atlanta 4-0 on two previous occasions. Domenichelli opened the scoring 40 seconds into the game with his eighth goal of the season when he fired what appeared to be a harmless shot at the net. Defensemen Tomas Kaberle and Dmitri Yushkevich converged on him just inside the Leafs blue line, but the shot eluded Curtis Joseph. "Clearly we weren't prepared," Leafs coach Pat Quinn said. "We had no semblance of order. We couldn't get much going. We finally got some chances and missed those. We took some stupid penalties and couldn't kill them. I'm disappointed because it's a missed opportunity to close the gap. We weren't good." The Thrashers went ahead 2-0 on a power play early in the second, when Tremblay one-timed a shot past Joseph. Korolev scored Toronto's lone goal 9:25 into the second, beating Damian Rhodes to the short side with a slap shot from the point. Just over a minute later, Guolla put the Thrashers ahead 3-1 after he floated a centering pass from the left of Joseph and it ricocheted off Yushkevich and into the net. Audette made it 4-1 with 3:11 left when he squirted a shot past Joseph during a goal-mouth scramble. Despite four power plays in the first period, the Leafs managed just seven shots on net. Toronto finished 1-for-8 on the power play, while Atlanta was 2-for-10. Rhodes, who made 27 saves against his former team, said the win may have been the biggest in the expansion franchise's short history. "We played well tonight," Rhodes said. "I saw almost every shot and that makes a big difference. We were real loose coming into this game." Leafs' right wing Garry Valk injured his knee when he crashed into the boards early in the first period. He did not return and is listed day-to-day with a bruised knee. Toronto is playing without defenseman Bryan Berard, who was examined Friday by a retinal surgeon in New York. Berard, hit in the face by Marian Hossa's stick during a game in Ottawa on March 11, will undergo exploratory surgery Tuesday. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Atlanta Clubhouse Toronto Clubhouse Eye surgery Tuesday may determine Berard's long-term prognosis
RECAPS Boston 3 Pittsburgh 2
Atlanta 4
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