After a fairly mundane and scoreless first period, the Thrashers and Flyers figured out to put the puck in the net in a flurry of scoring. Andrew Ladd scored his fifteenth of the year at 16:37 of the 2nd period on a snap shot past Flyers rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky thanks to an assist that came from Niclas Bergfors.
Unfortunately, Jody Shelley, who is not known for his scoring prowess, scored his second goal of the year just 36 seconds later to knot the score at one. Twenty one seconds after that, Kimmo Timonen scored his second of the year snapping one past Pavelec during a slight defensive breakdown.
A quiet Philips Arena got a welcome break when Timonen was called for a hooking penalty after his stick got wrapped around Evander Kane’s midsection. The Thrashers, who have the sixth ranked powerplay in the league, had a golden chance to re-tie the game before the end of the second period. Niclas Bergfors created a chance on a shot on net, and Rich Peverley – who was playing the doorstep – got the rebound and shoved it home with just three seconds left to send it into the 3rd period tied up.
Niclas Bergfors now has six points (two goals, four assists) in his last five games. Goat no more.