THRASHERS CONTINUE TO ROLL WITH WIN OVER SHARKS
3
2 ot
(San Jose - AP)
The Atlanta Thrashers continued their winning ways Tuesday evening with a 3-2 overtime win over the San Jose Sharks at the HP Pavillion Center in San Jose. Alexander Korolyuk's OT winner with 2 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Thrashers their 4th straight win. The Thrashers are now 9-3-3 in their last 15 games and the win moves them within one point of both the Hurricanes and Panthers for 1st place in the league.
Shawn Horcoff started the scoring for the Thrashers on a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle but the Sharks quickly tied it up less then a minute later. Steve Sullivan gave the Thrashers a 2-1 lead early in the 2nd period when he was sent in on a breakaway on a beautiful pass from Peter Forsberg. However, the Sharks came right back with a goal just over 3 minutes later to tie the score at 2 after 40 minutes. There was no scoring in the 3rd period before the dramatics happened in overtime and Korolyuk slapped home a one timer with 2 seconds left as Garon couldn't get across in time to make the save.
"I knew there wasn't much time left so I just fired the puck. Tomas gave me a great pass and I had almost an open net to shoot at. It's a big win for us to keep the confidence going. It's nice to contribute." - Korolyuk
The Thrashers who are the least penalized team in the league had an uncharacteristic night by giving the Sharks 11 PP opportunities. However, the #1 PK in the league showed why it is exactly that as they killed all 11 power play opportunites that the Sharks had.
"Our PK is playing great right now and everyone is buying in. To be almost 92% on it is quite the accomplishment. Now if we can just get the PP going then things would be great. It's a tale of two different ends. Our PK is #1 in the league and our PP is 2nd last. We are going to continue to work on the powerplay because that will be needed on later in the season. It's nice to get wins right now though." - Quenneville
The Thrashers were without Patrik Elias who was out with a bruised shoulder. He was taken off IR after the game and will be a game time decision vs the Flyers tomorrow night. Scott Walker was injured tonight and will also be a game time decision tomorrow. Shawn Bates is trying to play through injury for the Thrashers but has been limited in ice time due to the injuries playing only 9 and 8 minutes the last two nights and will also be a game time decision for tomorrow.
"Bates is playing through injuries but it's clear he's hurting so he is doubtful for tomorrow. Walker is questionable and Elias is probable." - Quenneville
As mentioned, the Thrashers now face the Flyers tomorrow night. A win tomorrow night would put the Thrashers ahead of the Hurricanes and Panthers (both have one game in hand) and into 1st place in the league.
"It's simple. We need to keep winning. We want to build a gap with teams that are out of the playoffs right now and stay with the teams that are around us. There is about 7 teams that are separated by 4 or 5 points in our conference. It's gonna be close all the way to the end of the season so we need to continue to win these games early, so there isn't as much pressure on us at the end." - Peter Forsberg