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Recap: Pittsburgh vs. Atlanta

Sports Network | April 4, 2010

Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Jordan Leopold scored 2:50 into overtime, as the Pittsburgh Penguins got by the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-3, at Mellon Arena.

In the extra period, Leopold casually skated the puck into the offensive zone while facing three defenders, stopped at the low right circle and threw a soft wrister on net that got through the pads of a surprised Johan Hedberg to give the Penguins the victory.

Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar both returned to the lineup and posted a goal and an assist apiece for Pittsburgh, which has won eight straight over Atlanta and is now tied with New Jersey atop the Atlantic Division standings, both with 97 points. The clubs are also deadlocked for the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

"I'm happy about the outcome, but win or lose in this game, I was happy with the way our team played for a lot of reasons," Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma said. "The physicality of which we played, the fight of which we played and sticking with it. I liked the way our team kept responding and kept playing our game."

Malkin (foot) missed seven of the previous eight games, while Gonchar (illness) sat out four in a row. Tyler Kennedy also lit the lamp, and Marc- Andre Fleury turned aside 21-of-24 shots for the Pens, who have won three of four.

Maxim Afinogenov, Rich Peverley and Tim Stapleton each registered a goal for the Thrashers, who have lost three of their last four but with 81 points are one point behind the Rangers and Flyers for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"We gave it everything we had. It just wasn't good enough," Thrashers head coach John Anderson said.

With Atlanta holding a 2-1 lead after two periods, Kennedy put in a rebound after Hedberg made the initial save on Sidney Crosby's shot to deadlock the contest 3:27 into the third.

Peverley, though, notched a rebound tally at 4:31 to put the Thrashers up, 3-2. After the Penguins failed to clear their own zone, Clarke MacArthur's shot was turned away by Fleury before Peverley put the rebound in from the right side.

Pittsburgh got an important power play late in the game when Jim Slater was whistled for a holding minor with 2:27 remaining, and the Pens capitalized. The Thrashers killed off over a minute of the infraction before Gonchar cranked a slap shot from the slot that beat Hedberg to the glove side with 1:14 to play.

Atlanta opened the scoring with 48 seconds left in the first period. Afinogenov worked a perfect give-and-go with Niclas Bergfors off a line rush and tapped it home from in close.

Hedberg was sensational in the early stages of the second before the Penguins were able to tie the game at 1-1 on the power play. Crosby won a right circle draw to Alex Goligoski, who fed a cross ice pass from the left circle to Malkin for a one-timer at 12:05.

However, with Matt Cooke serving a tripping minor a short time later, the Thrashers were able to go back in front when Stapleton tipped home a point shot from Johnny Oduya with 2:37 left in the stanza.

Atlanta left wing Evander Kane, who missed the previous 15 contests with a broken left foot, returned to action and posted an assist. Defenseman Pavel Kubina sat out his second straight game with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to- day...Pittsburgh hasn't lost to Atlanta since a 4-1 road setback on January 30, 2008 and hasn't dropped a game at home to the Thrashers since a 4-2 loss on December 27, 2006, winning eight straight since that date.