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Slater scores winning goal with eight seconds left

Dec 27, 2006 - 5:54 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Jim Slater's second goal of the season could not have come at a better time.

The left wing reached out with his stick to deflect a shot past goaltender Johan Holmqvist with 8.1 seconds left in the third period to lift the Atlanta Thrashers to a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The win was the fourth in a row for the Thrashers, who had lost their last three meetings with the Lightning, including an 8-0 defeat earlier in the month.

It appeared this contest was headed into overtime. But defenseman Shane Hnidy kept the puck in at the right point and slid a pass across to Bobby Holik, who desperately fired what appeared to a harmless shot from inside the blue line.

But Slater made his way to the front of the net and got his stick on the shot, deflecting it past Holmqvist.

Lightning coach John Tortorella protested the goal, claiming that Slater's stick was too high. But video replay upheld the goal.

"Any time they go upstairs or to Toronto, there's always doubt," Slater said. "When you score a goal, you don't want there to be doubt and you try to sell it as much as you can. It worked out for us this time, and it's a good thing because it was a big game for us."

"From my point of view, it looked like a high stick," Holmqvist said. "I saw it right away. It's a tough goal, especially with eight seconds left in the game."

Tampa Bay's lone goal came when the team was shorthanded. Vincent Lecavalier stole the puck from Ilya Kovalchuk and set up Martin St. Louis, who skated in on a breakaway and beat Kari Lehtonen between the pads with 4:26 left in the first period for his 24th goal of the season, including three shorthanded.

St. Louis had a goal and four assists in the Lightning's 8-0 victory over the Thrashers on December 7.

"We had to play differently than the last few games against these guys," Holik said. "We had to take the middle away from St. Louis and Lecavalier, and we almost accomplished that."

Vyacheslav Kozlov tied the game with a 30-foot wrist shot with 13:16 remaining in the second period for his 14th goal of the season.

Lehtonen made 25 saves for Atlanta.

"This was very nice because we have not been so lucky," Lehtonen said. "In the last 20 games, other teams have been scoring in the last minute. It was finally fun to get one for us."