Sunrise, FL (My Sportsbook) - Rich Peverley scored twice including the game- winner in the third period, as the Atlanta Thrashers continued their role of playoff spoiler with a 3-1 win against the Florida Panthers.

Colby Armstrong had two assists and Todd White sealed the win with an empty- netter for Atlanta, which has won four straight.

Johan Hedberg stopped 35-of-36 shots in winning his fifth straight start in place of Kari Lehtonen, who sat out a third consecutive contest due to an upper-body injury.

Gregory Campbell logged the lone score for Florida, which was seeking a season-high fourth win in a row and at 87 points had a chance to pull even with the idle New York Rangers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Craig Anderson, who was in net for each of the team's last three victories, surrendered three goals on 32 shots in the loss as Florida moved to 1-1 on its three-game homestand with Pittsburgh scheduled for a visit on Sunday.

Peverley finally broke the scoreless deadlock 2:23 into the second period, taking a feed from Armstrong along the left boards and beating Anderson high on the stick-side with a wrister from the slot.

Florida evened the score a little less than four minutes later as Richard Zednik worked around a defender coming down the left wing and centered a pass for Campbell, who needed a second swipe in front to chip the puck past Hedberg.

Peverley broke through again to give Atlanta a 2-1 advantage with 8:54 left in the third, skating off the right wing into the circle and snapping the puck over Hedberg's shoulder on the glove side.

An empty-net tally then sealed Florida's fate with 1:03 to play. The Panthers attempted to pull Anderson with just over a minute left but a turnover in the neutral zone by Stephen Weiss allowed White to secure possession and he sent the disc past a diving Anderson, who had reversed course in an attempt to get back to the crease.

Game Notes

Florida fell to 20-12-7 as the host this year while Atlanta improved 17-19-4 on the road...The Thrashers played the first of back-to-back road games Friday before ending the season with three straight at home....The Panthers have won three of five from the Thrashers this season with one final meeting, in Atlanta, on April 9...Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk had a six-game scoring streak snapped but still has at least a point in 19 of his last 22 tests...Slava Kozlov had an assist to give him a point in 12 of his last 13 games for the Thrashers. Kozlov has posted seven goals and 11 assists in that period.