ATLANTA, 18 November 2003 — Pasi Nurminen made 26 saves and four Thrashers scored their first goals of the season as Atlanta ended a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers in National Hockey League play on Sunday.
Rookies Francis Lessard and Tommi Santala scored their first NHL goals to help the Thrashers stay above the .500 mark (8-7-3-1) and move to within two points of first place Tampa Bay in the Southwest Division.
Shawn McEachern and Daniel Tjarnqvist also scored their first goals of the season for Atlanta, while Vyacheslav Kozlov had the other Atlanta goal.
The Panthers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game early in the third period, but then gave up three consecutive goals to fall to 2-2 since general manager Rick Dudley took over as head coach. Niklas Hagman and Vaclav Nedorost scored the goals for Florida.
Blue Jackets 2 Coyotes 2
In Columbus, Andrew Cassels scored with 41.9 seconds to go in regulation, giving the Blue Jackets a 2-2 tie with the Phoenix Coyotes. Rick Nash scored the other goal for the Blue Jackets, while Marc Denis made 29 saves. Daymond Langkow had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes, while Ladislav Nagy also scored for Phoenix, which has points in five consecutive games. Sean Burke made 25 saves.
Blackhawks 2 Rangers 2
In Chicago, Chris Simon’s third period goal gave the New York Rangers a 2-2 tie with the Blackhawks. Mark Messier scored the other New York goal, but the Rangers still have just one win in their last six games.
Brett McLean and Kyle Calder scored the goals for Chicago, winless in five games (0-3-1-1).
Mighty Ducks 4 Blues 3
In Anaheim, Steve Rucchin scored two goals, including the game-winner in the third period to lift the Mighty Ducks to a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Blues. Jason Krog and Vitaly Vishnevski scored 1:09 apart in the first period to give Anaheim an early lead.
