Thrashers Get Maracle Effort to Tie Panthers

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.”

Maracle is 1-0-2 since being recalled from Orlando of the IHL on Feb. 26 when starter Damian Rhodes went on injured reserve because of a groin injury

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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.”

Washington 4, Pittsburgh 3--Richard Zednik scored twice in the third period as the Capitals made the most of Mario Lemieux’s absence by ending a two-game losing streak with a victory over the Penguins at Washington.

Lemieux, resting a sore back in the second night of consecutive games, sat out his first game since returning from a 3 1/2-year retirement.

Buffalo 3, Colorado 2--Stu Barnes beat Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy on a breakaway 2:08 into overtime to give the Sabres a victory at Denver.

Curtis Brown and Doug Gilmour added goals for the Sabres, who were outshot 35-16 but got a solid performance from backup goalie Martin Biron, who finished with 33 saves.

Toronto 3, Ottawa 2--Alexei Yashin scored twice, including the game-winner 42 seconds into overtime, as the Senators defeated the Maple Leafs at Toronto.

Montreal 3, Philadelphia 1--Patrick Traverse’s second-period goal, his fourth of the season, started the Canadiens to a victory over the Flyers at Montreal.

Boston 3, San Jose 2--John Grahame made 26 saves for his third consecutive victory and Sergei Samsonov had a goal and an assist to lead the Bruins over the Sharks at Boston.

Tampa Bay 6, New York Islanders 0--Kevin Weekes stopped 25 shots for his third shutout of the season and Vincent Lecavalier and Mike Johnson each had a goal and two assists as the Lightning won at Uniondale, N.Y.

Calgary 3, St. Louis 2--Marc Savard scored 4:01 into overtime after the Flames staged a comeback in the third period at home.