Atlanta, GA (My Sportsbook) - Rich Peverley netted the game-winner with 1:09 left in overtime as the Atlanta Thrashers rallied from down three goals to notch a much-needed win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3, at Philips Arena.

Peverley also assisted on each of Ilya Kovalchuk's two goals and Bryan Little added a score as part of the comeback for the Thrashers, who had lost two in a row, four of five and eight of their last 10 coming in.

Johan Hedberg allowed three goals on just eight shots in the opening period and was pulled in favor of Kari Lehtonen, who was perfect in making nine saves the rest of the way. Ron Hainsey had two assists and Kovalchuk got an assist on the game-winner.

Atlanta improved to 8-13-2 as the host this year and won for just the second time in the last seven home tests.

Dominic Moore, Lee Stempniak and Niklas Hagman got the goals for the Maple Leafs, who had lost four in a row before posting a road victory Thursday at Carolina in which they blew a four-goal lead but held on for the win.

That was not the case on Friday, as Vesa Toskala, who was also in net Thursday, gave up four goals in facing 38 shots overall to take the loss.

"We hadn't done anything really special the first period and the same thing happened [Thursday]," Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said. "We took our foot off the gas for a second. We're not a good team. We have to be focused every single second, that's what I mean. If you take your foot off -- boom -- you open the door. We just can't screw the cap down on it."

Late in the overtime session, Peverley gained the zone and dished off to Kovalchuk at the left circle for a shot before crashing the net. The timing was perfect as Toskala couldn't handle the blast cleanly and Peverley was there to clean up the rebound and complete the comeback.

Stempniak started things off for the Leafs with a putback power-play marker at 12:53 of the first period following a slapper from Tomas Kaberle.

Moore made it a 2-0 game with 1:16 left in the period with a deflection off a Luke Schenn shot from the high slot. Just 56 seconds later it was 3-0 thanks to some hustle and crisp passing by Toronto.

Mikhail Grabovski chased down the puck along the right boards and dished to Nik Antropov, who set up Hagman for a one-timer with a cross-ice pass through a pair of defenders.

A hard Kovalchuk wrist shot from the left circle got Atlanta on the board 1:10 into the middle stanza and Little made it a one-goal game at 15:38. Little carried the puck deep in the zone and overskated while being blocked off by a defender. He recovered and swiped blindly with the backhand to put it through Toskala's legs.

The Thrashers picked up where they left off in the second as they kept the pressure on Toskala and the Leafs. It finally paid off in the form of a game- tying goal with 4:52 left to play.

Hainsey took advantage of a Toronto turnover and pushed ahead to Peverley on the right wing. Peverley skated around the back of the net and slid a pass in front between Toskala and the right post for Kovalchuk, who didn't miss from there.

Lehtonen and Toskala allowed the game to reach overtime by withstanding an elevation in play from both sides over the last few minutes.

"It wasn't the start we wanted -- after the first we woke up," Kovalchuk said. "I think we played our best two periods of the season so far. It was a total team effort. Kari (Lehtonen) gave us some key saves and we got the third goal finally."

Game Notes

This was the fourth and final meeting between the Thrashers and Toronto this season. The Maple Leafs had won two of the three encounters coming into Friday's contest and notched an overtime victory in the last meeting on December 30 in Toronto...The Leafs had taken three straight in Atlanta and five of the last six meetings overall...The Maple Leafs are now 9-13-2 as the visiting club this year...Little's goal was his 20th this season.