By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Kovalchuk scores 40th goal in Thrashers rout of Senators
Placeholder Image

ATLANTA — Ilya Kovalchuk would give up all his goals for a shot at the playoffs.

That won’t happen this season, but Kovalchuk netted his 40th goal and the Atlanta Thrashers scored three times in less than three minutes of the second period to beat the Ottawa Senators 6-3 on Saturday night.

"I’d trade all my goals for a playoff spot," said Kovalchuk, who has at least 40 goals in five consecutive seasons.

The Thrashers, who have won two straight and eight of 11, broke open a 2-2 game on goals by Tobias Enstrom, Marty Reasoner and Colby Armstrong in a span of 2:58.

Enstrom, who had two assists, scored his fifth goal on a power play at 13:12, giving Atlanta a 3-2 edge. Reasoner added his 13th goal 1:12 later before Armstrong notched his 19th 54 seconds later for a 5-2 lead.

Jason Spezza had two of Ottawa’s goals, giving him 29 this season, in the first period.

Kovalchuk, who also had an assist on Enstrom’s goal, scored his milestone goal with 10 seconds left in the opening period. The seven-year veteran, who has 294 career goals, has registered four goals and five assists in his last four games. Nathan Oystrick scored earlier in the period for Atlanta.

"It’s easy to score when everybody plays well. We’re building some momentum for next year," Kovalchuk said of the Thrashers (32-38-6). "I’ll try for (300 goals). A couple of hat tricks and you’re there."

Spezza assisted on Ryan Shannon’s power-play goal at 1:50 of the third period. It was Shannon’s seventh of the season and third in three games for the Senators, who lost their second straight after winning five in a row.

"We played a decent first period, made good goals," Spezza said. "Had a horrible second period, and they just outplayed us after that."

Atlanta’s Slava Kozlov, who had two assists, scored his 24th goal on a power play at 9:23 of the third period.

Todd White and Eric Perrin each had a pair of assists, and Armstrong added an assist for the Thrashers. Johan Hedberg recorded his 100th career victory by making 18 saves.

"It only took almost 10 years, but it was nice to have it," said the 35-year-old Hedberg, who has played for Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Dallas and Atlanta. "I noticed a week ago that I was closing in on it."

The backup to Kari Lehtonen is 11-10-3 this season.

Ottawa rookie goalie Brian Elliott was removed after Reasoner’s goal. He gave up four goals on 21 shots. His replacement Alex Auld allowed Armstrong’s goal on the first shot he faced.

"By no means was it his fault," Ottawa coach Cory Clouston said of Elliott. "They wanted it more than we did. It’s hard to explain that. The effort just wasn’t consistent enough at times."

Ottawa’s Nick Foligno had an assist, giving him two goals and four assists in five games.Notes: Lehtonen didn’t play after injuring his upper body and leaving following the first period of Thursday night’s 5-4 shootout win over the New York Rangers. ... Kovalchuk, who has 294 career goals, has 10 goals and 15 assists in his last 13 games. ... Elliott was 11«in his previous 17 games.

Community Events
Thrashers headed to Canada after team's sale
Placeholder Image

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The wait is over for Winnipeg hockey fans.

For Atlanta, it means saying goodbye to another NHL team.

True North Sports and Entertainment scheduled a news conference Tuesday at Winnipeg's MTS Centre to make "a significant community announcement."

True North has been in negotiations with the owners of the Atlanta Thrashers to buy the NHL team and move it to Winnipeg. The deal is reportedly worth $170 million, which includes a $60 million relocation fee that would be split by the rest of the league.

Winnipeg has been without NHL hockey since the Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996. The Thrashers entered the league three years later as an expansion franchise, but ownership problems, a losing team and dwindling attendance doomed the club. The team ranked 28th out of 30 teams this year with an average attendance of less than 14,000.

Assuming the deal goes through - it still must be approved by the other owners - Atlanta would become the first city in the NHL's modern era to lose two teams.
The Flames moved to Calgary in 1980 after eight seasons in Atlanta.

True North was making its announcement one day before the start of the Stanley Cup final, which begins Wednesday in Vancouver between the Canucks and the Boston Bruins.
While there was no prohibition on announcing major news during that series, the league preferred to get the Thrashers' sale off its plate before opening its signature event.

For weeks, the two sides had been working through complex legal details on the sale and relocation of the team, while leaving open the possibility that a local buyer would emerge late in the process. No one ever came forward with a serious offer, according to the Thrashers' ownership group, Atlanta Spirit, and the city's mayor, Kasim Reed.

"It is going to hurt the city but we will withstand it just fine and we will get through it," Reed said.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said on his weekly radio show that the inability to find an owner who wanted to keep the team in Atlanta was a barrier the league couldn't overcome.

"It would be one of those head scratchers where you say, 'Look at all of this great corporate opportunity, look at all of this grass roots hockey, why doesn't somebody want to own a team here?'" Bettman said. "And that would be a difficult, but unfortunate, situation to be dealing with if it has reached, or does reach, that point."

Bettman was asked if Atlanta had hopes of landing another NHL team if it lost its second franchise.

"The prospect of leaving Atlanta isn't something that I'm particularly fond of," he said. "So I can't even contemplate the notion of what would happen after that in terms of coming back. We respect the importance of Atlanta as a city. It's a big market, but this is a franchise that's got a problem in that market."

Team president Don Waddell says there remains some hope for a late development until a sale is made official and approved by the NHL board of governors, which is scheduled to meet June 21 in New York. But considering Atlanta Spirit, which also owns the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and the operating rights to Philips Arena, has been trying for years to sell the hockey team, that seems highly unlikely.

Also, any potential owner would have to agree to become a tenant at Philips Arena, a major stumbling block because it would cut into potential revenue from sources such as concessions, parking, luxury suites and other events.

"Ownership still is committed to selling at a greatly reduced price to anyone committed to Atlanta," Waddell said.