ATLANTA — Jeff Carter scored twice and the Philadelphia Flyers withstood an Atlanta comeback to extend their domination of the Thrashers, holding on for a 3-2 victory Sunday.
The Flyers won their 14th straight over Atlanta, a streak that dates to November 2005. They swept all four games this season, outscoring the Thrashers 19-8.
Carter scored just past the midway point of the first period, beating Thrashers goalie Johan Hedberg to the glove side. The Flyers center another goal, his 34th of the season, on a power play less than 3 minutes into the third to give the Flyers a 3-0 lead.
Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov scored power-play goals for the Thrashers to make a game of it. But Antero Nittymaki held on, stopping 29 shots to improve his career record against Atlanta to 13-0.
Joffrey Lupul scored Philadelphia's other goal, his 16th, in the opening minute of the second period after the Flyers caught the Thrashers on a line change. Carter assisted on the play, giving him a hand in all three of his team's goals.
With Colby Armstrong off for hooking, Carter seemed to put the game out of reach when he took a cross-ice pass from Scott Hartnell and ripped a tough-angle shot past Hedberg before the goalie could slide across the crease. The pass some how got through two Atlanta players, and Carter took advantage at 2:51 of the third.
But Atlanta rallied with a most unexpected weapon.
The Thrashers came into the day mired in a 1-for-33 slump on the power play. They failed in their first four chances against the Flyers before finally breaking through for a pair of goals with the man advantage.
Kovalchuk got loose right down the middle and fired a shot that dribbled through Nittymaki's pads with 16 minutes remaining while Matt Carle was serving 2 minutes for cross-checking. It was Kovalchuk's 22nd goal.
Kozlov scored with 6:56 to go, beating Nittymaki from the right faceoff circle with Lupul was in the penalty box for boarding.
The Thrashers pulled Hedberg with about 90 seconds remaining and had a couple of good chances at sending the game to overtime before time ran out. The home team lost for the sixth time in seven games of a miserable season.
Atlanta's Eric Boulton and Philadelphia's Riley Cote squared off in a battle of enforcers with 81/2 minutes left in the second.
After Boulton delivered a check on a Flyers player, Cote skated in and started a fight with the Thrashers' brawler. The two dropped the gloves in front of the Atlanta bench and duked it out for nearly 2 minutes, both landing several big shots but neither going down before the linesmen stepped in.
Both were assessed fighting majors, but Cote also got an instigation penalty and a 10-minute misconduct.
Notes: The Flyers won back-to-back road games over the weekend, also beating the first-place Bruins on Saturday. ... The Thrashers scored two power-play goals for the first time since a Dec. 30 game at Toronto. ... There was an extended delay in the second period when a pane of glass behind Philadelphia's net had to be replaced. ... Hartnell assisted on both of Carter's goals.