Bogosian out indefinitely
NEW YORK — Atlanta Thrashers defenseman Zach Bogosian, the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft, will be out indefinitely with a broken left leg.
A spokesman for the team said Thursday the injury won’t require surgery. The Thrashers did not immediately announce plans to replace Bogosian before their game against the New York Rangers.
Bogosian was injured when he was slammed into the boards by Philadelphia’s Darroll Powe in the Flyers’ 7-0 win in Atlanta on Tuesday night. He did not return to the game.
NEW YORK — Nikolai Zherdev had a goal and assist in the third period, and the New York Rangers fought off the slumping Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 Thursday night.
Zherdev gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal early in the third period and then helped set up Dan Girardi’s winner with 6:27 left to give New York its fourth straight win. Markus Naslund also scored for the Rangers, who have won 10 of 13 (10-2-1).
Kari Lehtonen bounced back from a 7-0 home loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday in which he allowed all the goals on 31 shots. He finished with 30 saves, but the Thrashers (2-6-2) dropped their fourth consecutive in regulation and fifth overall (0-4-1).
With the game tied at 2, Zherdev shot the puck through the crease on a wraparound try. Girardi scored the winner on the putback.
Slava Kozlov gave Atlanta a 1-0 lead in the first and Bryan Little tied it in the third. Todd White had two assists.
Atlanta made it 2-2 during a power play at 10:28 when White found Little alone in front. With goalie Henrik Lundqvist sprawled on his stomach, Little lifted a shot over him for his fifth goal.
The Rangers took a 2-1 lead 3:30 earlier on Zherdev’s power-play goal. Zherdev took the puck from defenseman Tobias Enstrom near the right-wing boards, worked it back and forth on his stick as he closed in on Lehtonen, then snapped a backhand that somehow squeezed under the crossbar and popped up the water bottle.
Naslund, who extended his point streak to five with a first-period goal, thought he had given the Rangers the lead during a power play 30 seconds into the middle period. Naslund got to a rebound of his shot, turned his right foot and skated into the puck — knocking it past Lehtonen. The goal was waved off after a video replay.
That began a string of three straight power plays for the Rangers, who had a pair of fruitless 5-on-3 advantages before the second period was 3 minutes old.