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Thrashers get late goal to avoid shutout
0217ThrashersIslanders
Atlanta Thrashers' Garnet Exelby (2) fights with New York Islanders' Blake Comeau during the third period of Saturday's NHL game at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y. - photo by AP Photo/Ed Betz

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Rick DiPietro came up 77 seconds short of a shutout, and the Islanders set franchise records for fewest shots allowed and shot discrepancy in New York’s 4-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night.

DiPietro needed to stop just nine shots, while the Islanders pelted Kari Lehtonen for 49. DiPietro also added an assist as 12 Islanders recorded a point.

Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Sean Bergenheim scored for the Islanders, winners of three straight.

The three consecutive wins came after a seven-game losing streak (0-6-1). During those seven games, New York scored just 11 goals. They’ve scored 13 in the three wins.

New York’s previous low for shots allowed in a game was 11, set on Mar. 3, 1977 at Detroit.
Atlanta had a three-game winning streak snapped with the loss. Lehtonen stopped 45 shots, and Todd White scored for the Thrashers.

The Islanders tied a season high with 20 shots in the opening period, and set a season record with 49 shots. Still, they emerged from the opening 20 minutes with just a 1-0 lead.

Satan’s 12th goal of the season, and first in 10 games, came at 14:52.

The Islanders outshot Atlanta 17-2 in the second period, and increased their lead to three.

Fedotenko continued his torrid scoring pace when he made it 2-0 for New York 90 seconds into the period. He skated around the net and tried a backhand wraparound. Lehtonen made the initial stop, but Fedotenko swept the rebound home.

Fedotenko now has goals in three straight games, and five goals in his last five.
Bergeron scored on the front end of a two-man advantage at 12:03 to give the Islanders a three-goal margin. His center point slap shot flew over Lehtonen’s right shoulder.

Islanders forward Trent Hunter (7) had more shots after 40 minutes of play than the entire Thrashers team (6).

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