You can’t say that the team didn’t try. In a game that ended much better than the one Friday night, the Thrashers were felled by Eric Cole in overtime, 4-3. The only goal scored in the third period was a beautiful drive to the net by Bryan Little. Anthony Stewart managed to get Little the puck in the Cane’s zone, and Little carried it all the way up to the Hurricanes’ net and over the shoulder of Justin Peters to tie the game. This was Little’s twelfth goal of the year, one less than he scored all last season.
Unfortunately for the Thrashers, Eric Cole grabbed his own rebound with about three minutes remaining in the OT and shoved it past Pavelec’s right pad for the winning goal.
Tonight’s loss gives the Thrashers 51 points and a two point lead over 8th place Montreal. The concerning part about this, though, is that Atlanta is off until Friday and the teams around them aren’t. This gives the rest of the conference a chance to pick up a few games on Atlanta – the Thrashers have played 45 games, which is the most in the conference. The jam-packed December wasn’t necessarily good for the team, because they were the most tired when they were fighting for the points that they most needed. They’re going to have to pick up the pace from here on out if they want to stay in the playoff hunt for the rest of the season.