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Thrashers look to increase division lead

Mar 28, 2007 - 1:06 PM Atlanta (39-27-10) at Florida (32-30-4) 7:30 pm EDT

SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- The Atlanta Thrashers look to increase their division lead when they face the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

Atlanta holds a two-point lead over Tampa Bay (41-32-4) in the Southwest Division. It is the third seed in the Eastern Conference, 10 points behind New Jersey (45-23-8).

The Thrashers, who need two points to match last season's franchise record of 90, are coming off a 2-1 loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Scott Mellanby scored the lone goal and Kari Lehtonen made 26 saves for Atlanta, which has dropped seven of its last 10 road contests. Lehtonen is just 6-4-0 in his last 10 starts despite a 2.50 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.

The Panthers are still alive in the East race but are running out of time with just six games left. They remained eight points out of the last playoff berth with a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

Nathan Horton had two goals and Olli Jokinen added a goal and two assists for the Panthers, who have lost six of seven meetings with the Thrashers this season.

Jokinen has six goals and seven assists in his five-game points streak, and has two goals and three assists in seven contests against Atlanta.