Kovalchuk nets winner on OT power play

 

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• Thrasher Motion 1

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Game Information

Arena: Philips Arena Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Referees: DanO'Rourke Linesmen: BradKovachik, JonnyMurray

Attendance: 14,009 (75.5% full)

Team Stat Comparison
209	Goals	214
188	Goals Against	243
48	Power Play Goals	60
55	Power Play Goals Allowed	58
7	Shorthanded Goals	11
13	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	7
1208	Penalty Minutes	1505
15	Average Penalty Minutes	18

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD			BOS	ATL
1:42		Jeff Jillson Assists: Joe Thornton	1	0
7:30		Martin Lapointe (Power Play) Assists: Nick Boynton, Sergei Samsonov	2	0
16:19		Ronald Petrovicky Unassisted	2	1
18:54		Jeff Cowan Assists: Ronald Petrovicky, Andy Sutton	2	2
2ND PERIOD			BOS	ATL
2:47		Glen Murray (Power Play) Assists: Joe Thornton, Jeff Jillson	3	2
12:04		Slava Kozlov Assists: Ilya Kovalchuk, J.P. Vigier	3	3
14:16		Brian Rolston (Power Play) Assists: Sergei Samsonov, Nick Boynton	4	3
3RD PERIOD			BOS	ATL
3:14		Serge Aubin (Power Play) Assists: Jeff Cowan, Patrik Stefan	4	4
OT			BOS	ATL
3:42		Ilya Kovalchuk (Power Play) Assists: Frantisek Kaberle, Slava Kozlov	4	5

ATLANTA (AP) -- Something about falling behind brings out the best in the Atlanta Thrashers.

Rallying from a two-goal deficit for the sixth time this season, Ilya Kovalchuk gave Atlanta its only lead of the night and a 5-4 victory over the Boston Bruins with an overtime goal Wednesday.

The Thrashers overcame deficits of 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 to snap Boston's four-game winning streak.

"We just kept pushing and pushing," said Jeff Cowan, who scored one goal and assisted on another. "That was a great way to finish it."

Nine players had goals, but the last one was predictable. Kovalchuk scored his NHL-high 14th goal 3:42 into overtime, though it was his first in five games.

"I knew it was coming," he said. "I just kept going."

Kovalchuk drew a hooking penalty on Nick Boynton, getting pulled down at center ice, and Atlanta called a timeout to set up in the Boston zone. Slava Kozlov won the faceoff, and Frantisek Kaberle relayed the puck to Kovalchuk, who beat Felix Potvin with a slap shot off the far post.

Boynton watched the goal from the penalty box, disgusted at the decisive call.

"The way I saw it, it shouldn't have been a call," he said. "But we didn't play a very good game at all. They're a hardworking team. We were lucky to get a point."

Atlanta has won five times and lost another game in overtime after falling behind by two goals.

Not even three power-play goals were enough for the Bruins, who became the first visiting team all season to score with a man advantage at Philips Arena.

The Thrashers were 25-of-25 in killing off penalties at home until they faced Boston's lethal power play, the second-best in the NHL.

Boston scored on its first two shots. Jeff Jillson beat Pasi Nurminen with a wrist shot from just inside the blue line and Martin Lapointe made it 2-0, blasting the puck by Nurminen after taking a pass from Boynton.

"I thought it was an opportunity for us to really energize our team, keep the momentum," Bruins coach Mike Sullivan said. "But we took a sigh of relief and didn't keep our edge."

True to their nature, the Thrashers battled back. Ronald Petrovicky scored his career-high sixth goal to cut the lead in half. The puck slid off Petrovicky's stick but still made it past Potvin, barely crossing the goal line.

Petrovicky set up the next goal, assisting Cowan after a mistake by Mike Knuble. The Boston forward lost control trying to knock down the puck with his hand at the blue line.

Petrovicky backhanded a pass to Cowan, who lifted a shot over Potvin's shoulder. That was the scouting report from Thrashers coach Bob Hartley.

"Bob kept telling us to get it up high on him, just get it up," Cowan said.

Boston pushed back ahead on Glen Murray's power-play goal early in the second period, while Kaberle was serving a four-minute penalty for high-sticking. Kozlov made it 3-3 for Atlanta, but Boston reclaimed the lead on yet another power-play goal, this one by Brian Rolston.

Serge Aubin tied it back up for Atlanta just over three minutes into the third period. Cowan crashed the net and passed to his teammate, who managed to slip the puck through a narrow opening between Potvin's pad and the post.

In overtime, both goalies made some big saves before Kovalchuk's goal. Potvin stymied Shawn McEachern on a breakaway and Boston went the other way, sending Knuble in all alone. Nurminen kicked the puck away.

"It was a huge confidence builder," Cowan said. "This could be a team we see in the playoffs."

Game notes
Thrashers general manager Don Waddell was named assistant GM for the American teams that will play next year in the world championship and World Cup. ... In the third, two Atlanta players were struck by shots. J.P. Vigier was hit in the ear with a shot by Kovalchuk, and Petrovicky took one off the chest in front of the Atlanta goal. Neither player was seriously injured. ... Boston gave up the tying goal in the third after being called for too many men on the ice.