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Thrashers hold off Leafs

Dec 21, 2010 - 6:51 AM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Tobias Enstrom and Freddy Modin each tallied two goals to help Atlanta stave off a late Toronto rally to win, 6-3, at Air Canada Centre.

Enstrom also had a pair of assists for the Thrashers, who have won two straight and four of their last six. Atlanta has 43 points and sits atop the Southeast Division.

"I think that we have a good bunch of players here," said Atlanta head coach Craig Ramsay. "They have followed through on our concepts and everybody is doing a great job on offense."

Anthony Stewart posted a goal and an assist as Ondrej Pavelec turned away 37-of-40 shots for his 11th victory in his last 14 starts. Andrew Ladd added an empty netter in the win.

Mikhail Grabovski had a goal and an assist for Toronto, which has lost three straight and five of its last seven games. John Mitchell and Nikolai Kulemin each netted goals, while Tomas Kaberle had two helpers in the loss.

"We never quit and had an incredible number of scoring chances," said Toronto head coach Ron Wilson. "Our problem was that our first shift for every line and every pair of defense was a disaster and we wound up down early."

Jonas Gustavsson gave up five goals on 18 shots and was benched in favor of James Reimer, who finished the game with four saves.

Atlanta seemed to have put the game away by scoring with 17 minutes left to play, making it 4-1. Bryan Little stole the puck at the top of the left circle and dropped it off to Stewart, who slapped it top shelf.

The apparent route continued 75 seconds later on Enstrom's second goal of the game. After the goal, Gustavsson was relegated to the bench.

The Maple Leafs, however, added two power-play goals in a 15-second span, making it interesting with seven minutes left to play. Grabovski scored the first on a wrister, and then Kulemin lit the lamp for the 11th time of the season at the 13:10 mark.

Ladd, though, sealed the road win by adding an empty-netter with 25 seconds left.

Atlanta needed just 2 1/2 minutes to get on the board for a 1-0 edge. After a Leafs' neutral zone turnover, Jim Slater carried the puck to the point and wristed a low shot that was tipped by both Ron Hainsey and Modin, who was credited for the goal.

Only 28 seconds later on a power play, Enstrom ripped a shot from the left point that soared just inside the far post for a quick two-goal edge.

The Leafs made it a 2-1 game at the 14:22 mark of the second period on a power-play goal of their own. Phil Kessel ripped a shot from the right point that was deflected toward the far side. Mitchell gathered the rebound and shot the puck from a sharp angle to score his first goal of the season.

The margin was back to two with 56 seconds remaining in the second when Enstrom ripped a shot from the point and Modin redirected it in mid-air past the Toronto netminder.

Game Notes

The Thrashers are 9-5-3 as the guest this year...The Maple Leafs are 8-7-3 as the host this year...Kaberle scored his 500th career point on his assist during Mitchell's second-period goal.