Saturday, Mar. 3 7:00pm ET
Bure comes up empty on four breakaways
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ATLANTA (AP) -- Atlanta goaltender Norm Maracle kept calling his
performance "lucky." Others had very different opinions of
Maracle's effort.
Maracle stopped 41 shots, including three breakaways by
Florida's Pavel Bure, as the Thrashers tied the Panthers 2-2
Saturday night.
Atlanta's Steve Guolla scored the tying goal with 13:59 to play.
Jiri Slegr had a goal and an assist for Atlanta.
Bure, the NHL's leading goal scorer, had four breakaway attempts
and missed all four. Three were blocked by Maracle, who deflected
Bure's shot with 3:45 left in overtime.
"That's a dream you can tell your kids about that someday."
Maracle said of stopping Bure. "Any other night he's going to
score three or four. I just got lucky."
Maracle is 1-0-2 since being recalled from Orlando of the IHL on
Feb. 26 when starter Damian Rhodes was placed on injured reserve
with a groin injury. Maracle was a disappointment as a backup
goalie in Atlanta last season (4-19-2) and was cut in preseason and
replaced by Milan Hnilicka.
"Obviously an absolute superb demonstration of goaltending,"
said Atlanta head coach Curt Fraser.
Bure had 13 shots in the game. In his previous game in Atlanta
on Feb. 10, he had four goals and a team-record 14 shots.
"It's tough to score goals sometimes," Bure said. "I had four
breakaways and he stopped them all. I have to give him credit for
that."
It was the first time since early December that the Thrashers
have scored a point in three consecutive games.
Viktor Kozlov and Marcus Nilson scored for Florida, which is
winless in its last seven games. Roberto Luongo stopped 39 shots
for the Panthers.
The Thrashers took a 1-0 lead just 3:07 into the game when
Slegr's shot slipped through the legs of the 6-foot-3 Luongo and
barely slid across the goal line. The power play goal was the
eighth of the season for Slegr.
Kozlov scored his 12th goal of the season with 12 seconds left
in the first period when he smacked in the rebound of a missed shot
from close range.
Nilson pushed Florida ahead 2-1 in the second period when he
controlled a rebound and smashed it past Maracle for his ninth
goal.
Maracle has been superb in goal since his callup from Orlando
six days ago. He stopped 34 shots in the first period, including 10
by Bure.
Guolla tied the game at 2-2 after Luongo blocked a shot by
Donald Audette, but Guolla was there to tap in the rebound.
Game notes
The Atlanta Thrashers have activated defenseman Gord Murphy
from injured reserve, according to vice president and general
manager Don Waddell. The Thrashers now have 22 players on their
active roster. ... Murphy, 34, has seven points (two goals, five
assists) and four penalty minutes in 10 games with the Thrashers
this season. He missed 11 games with a broken thumb from Feb.
7-March 2.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
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Boston 3
San Jose 2
Buffalo 3
Colorado 2
Florida 2
Atlanta 2
Montreal 3
Philadelphia 1
Tampa Bay 6
NY Islanders 0
Ottawa 3
Toronto 2
Washington 4
Pittsburgh 3
Calgary 3
St. Louis 2
Los Angeles 6
Detroit 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Steve Guolla puts back the Donald Audette miss to tie the game at 2.
avi: 535 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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