4 months ago
Rich Peverley and Ilya Kovalchuk each scored two goals, Ondrej Pavelec stopped 36 shots and the Atlanta Thrashers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 on Saturday night in the season
opener for both teams.
Anssi Salmela and Zach Bogosian also scored for Atlanta. The Thrashers scored the first four goals before Tampa Bay, led
by two second-period goals by Martin St. Louis, tried to rally.
Andrej Meszaros scored on a tip-in to cut Atlanta's lead to 4-3
early in the third period.
Atlanta ended the comeback as Peverley and Kovalchuk each scored their second goals. The 22-year-old Pavelec earned the starting job in the preseason as Kari Lehtonen continues to recover from offseason back surgery.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APNP 10-03-09 2145EDT
