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

.

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.