Atlanta rookie Evander Kane scored 1:36 into the third period to snap a tie, and Rich Peverley had two power-play goals against Martin Brodeur in the Thrashers' 4-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.
Doing damage without any contributions on the score sheet from captain Ilya Kovalchuk, the Thrashers shook off a 1-0 deficit in the second period. Ondrej Pavelec made 28 saves in his fourth straight start in place of injured Kari Lehtonen. At this rate, backup Johan Hedberg might not get a chance to play anytime soon.
Peverley tied it with his first power-play goal of the night, and pushed the lead to two 5:55 into the third with another man-advantage tally.
Chris Thorburn sealed the win with a short-handed goal with 3:11 left.
Travis Zajac and Zach Parise scored for the Devils.
Also late Friday
Sabres 6, Islanders 3: Clarke MacArthur scored on a penalty shot, Ryan Miller made 36 saves, and Tyler Myers scored his first NHL goal to help host Buffalo remain undefeated in regulation.
Tim Connolly had a goal and assist, and Jochen Hecht, Patrick Kaleta, and Jason Pominville also scored for the Sabres (4-0-1). Myers and MacArthur also had assists.
Matt Moulson had a goal and assist, No. 1 draft pick John Tavares added a goal, and Andy Sutton also scored for the winless Islanders (0-2-3).
Panthers 4, Flyers 2: Radek Dvorak broke a tie with a short-handed goal at 7:02 of the third period, and Scott Clemmensen made 25 saves in his first start for host Florida.
Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton and Steven Reinprecht also scored to help Florida (2-4) snap a four-game losing streak and avoid the worst six-game start in franchise history. Arron Asham and Claude Giroux scored for Philadelphia. The Flyers have lost three straight after opening 3-0.
Oilers 5, Wild 2: Dustin Penner and Gilbert Brule each scored twice, and Nikolai Khabibulin made 29 saves for host Edmonton.
Mike Comrie also scored to help the Oilers improve to 4-2-1 with their third victory in four games. Benoit Pouliot and Andrew Brunette scored for Minnesota. The Wild have lost the first four games on a five-game trip to drop to 1-5-0.
Flames 5, Canucks 3: Dustin Boyd and Brian McGrattan each had a goal and an assist, and Miikka Kiprusoff made 26 saves for host Calgary.
Curtis Glencross, Nigel Dawes and Dion Phaneuf also scored for the Flames (5-2-1), who built a 5-0 lead and chased Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo after two periods.
Rick Rypien, Mikael Samuelsson and Christian Ehrhoff scored for Vancouver.
Note
Quebec City plans new arena: Quebec City has announced its intention to build a new arena in the hopes of bringing back an NHL team and one day hosting the Winter Olympics.
Mayor Regis Labeaume said on Friday that he's hired engineering firm SNC Lavalin to conduct a feasibility study. He hopes to see the arena built from 2010 to 2012.
Labeaume expects the arena to cost $400 million, with the city contributing $50 million to the project. He wants the federal and provincial governments to each pony up $175 million under infrastructure programs.
Quebec lost the Nordiques in 1995, when they left to become the Colorado Avalanche. The aging Colisee arena has been cited as the main reason for the city's inability to attract another NHL team.
