Atlanta, GA (My Sportsbook) - Colby Armstrong scored twice to lead the
Atlanta Thrashers past the
Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-2, in a battle between two teams eliminated from the playoffs at Philips Arena.
Eric Perrin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Ron Hainsey, and Colin Stuart also lit the lamp for the Thrashers (35-41-6), who had a three-game losing streak going into the tilt. Marty Reasoner had two assists. Kari Lehtonen stopped 33 shots to collect the win.
Atlanta ended the season with 76 points.
Matt Pettinger and Steven Stamkos scored for the Lightning (24-40-18), who lost nine consecutive games to finish the season. Mike McKenna stopped 11- of-15 shots while Karri Ramo finished the game in net and gave up two goals on 11 shots.
Tampa Bay finished the season with 66 points.
Atlanta drew first blood on a power-play goal from Armstrong at the 7:10 mark of the first period.
The Thrashers used a short-handed goal from Perrin with 3:30 remaining to extend their margin to 2-0. Reasoner, who was stationed at the left circle, dumped the disc off to Perrin at the right circle. Perrin fired a shot top shelf to beat McKenna.
Pettinger's power-play goal with 2:43 left in the first cut the deficit to 2-1. Pettinger swatted in a bouncing puck in front of the net to beat Lehtonen.
The Lightning outshot the Thrashers 13-7 in the first stanza but trailed by one heading to the second.
Atlanta took control of the game by scoring three goals in the second frame.
Kovalchuk lit the lamp at the 9:15 mark, Hainsey scored a power-play goal with 5:51 remaining, and Armstrong tallied his second goal of the tilt with 3:28 left to give the Thrashers a 5-1 advantage going into the third.
Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay 46 seconds into the third period, while Stuart lit the lamp about six minutes later for Atlanta to account for the final score.
Game Notes
The Thrashers went 2-for-7 on the power play, while the Lightning went 1- for-5...There was a total of 54 penalty minutes in the game...Atlanta won the season series with Tampa Bay, 4-1-1...The Lightning finished the season with a 12-22-7 record as the visiting team. The Thrashers ended the season with a 18-21-2 mark at home.
