Todd White scored in a shootout to give Atlanta a 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday after Ilya Kovalchuk rallied the Thrashers from a three-goal deficit.
The Thrashers trailed 4-1 midway through the second period, but Kovalchuk had a hand in each of the next three goals.
Kovalchuk scored late in the second period and assisted on third-period goals by Colby Armstrong and White as Atlanta tied it with 6 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in regulation.
PHOTO: AP
Rangers backup Steve Valiquette stopped shootout shots by Bryan Little, Slava Kozlov, Kovalchuk, Eric Perrin and Rich Peverley, before White flipped the puck past his glove.
CANADIENS 3, LIGHTNING 2, OT
In Montreal, Saku Koivu scored 3 minutes, 15 seconds into overtime as Montreal recovered from blowing a two-goal lead in the third period for a win over Tampa Bay.
Koivu put a rebound past Martin St Louis after the Tampa Bay forward stuck out his left palm to stop Koivu’s first attempt in a wild goalmouth scramble.
The Montreal captain danced off to the corner where he was joined by his teammates, who celebrated after blowing a 2-0 lead in the third.
PANTHERS 4, FLYERS 2
In Philadelphia, Brett McLean scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and backup Craig Anderson made 40 saves as Florida snapped a three-game losing streak.
Cory Stillman, Radek Dvorak and David Booth also scored for the Panthers, who started the night below the post-season cutoff in the Eastern Conference.
Anderson got the start over Tomas Vokoun, who surrendered three goals on 20 shots in Florida’s 5-3 loss at Buffalo on Wednesday when the Panthers gave up a two-goal lead in the third period.
Jeff Carter scored his team-leading 41st goal and Scott Hartnell added a goal for the Flyers, who had won three in a row.
Philadelphia lead fifth-placed Carolina by a point for home-ice advantage in the first round of the East playoffs.
PREDATORS 3, SHARKS 2
In Nashville, Tennessee, Radek Bonk scored a power-play goal and added an assist as Nashville beat San Jose.
Martin Erat and Greg Zanon also scored for the Predators. Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi netted San Jose’s goals.
The Sharks scored first when Christian Ehrhoff found Pavelski midway in the slot. Pavelski sent a wrist shot past Pekka Rinne, beating him to his stick side with 4 minutes, 37 seconds left in the first period.
San Jose took a 2-0 lead on the power play when Setoguchi put his stick on a rebound and got the puck past Rinne from the left side 3 minutes, 12 seconds into the second period.
Thursday’s other NHL results:
• Blue Jackets 5, Flames 0
• Kings 1, Stars 0
• Blues 4, Canucks 2
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