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Thrashers try to get back on track in home test vs. Flyers

Jan 14, 2011 - 3:56 PM (Sports Network) - With just three victories in its last 10 games, Atlanta is losing ground in the Eastern Conference. The Thrashers can get back on track tonight if they can find a way to duplicate their success from last year over the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Thrashers go for a fifth straight victory over the current Eastern Conference leaders this evening in a meeting at Philips Arena.

Atlanta carried a 14-game series losing streak to the Flyers into the start of last season, which at the time was the longest current slide against anyone team in the NHL. However, the Thrashers halted that skid, as well nine-game home losing streak to Philadelphia, with a 1-0 victory on Nov. 28 of last season.

The Thrashers went on to sweep their four-game season series with the Flyers by a 13-6 margin, giving them five victories in the last 22 meetings and a mere three in the past 19 played in Atlanta.

After having a two-game win streak end last Friday with a horrid 9-3 setback to Toronto, Atlanta dropped its second in a row on Sunday, 4-3, in overtime to Carolina.

Bryan Little tallied twice and Niclas Bergfors also scored for the Thrashers, who are 3-5-2 in their last 10 and tied with Montreal for seventh overall in the East. Ondrej Pavelec allowed four goals on 34 shots.

"We're very proud of the way the boys fought back," Atlanta head coach Craig Ramsay said. "We're down significantly again and we fought back from the tough one the other night."

Atlanta, which has lost five of its last seven at home, was without Ben Eager, a former Flyer, after the forward was suspended four games for a sucker punch versus Toronto.

Pavelec has faced the Flyers just once in his career, halting 44 shots in a 3-1 victory on March 21 in the last meeting between the teams, while Bergfors has three goals and two assists in five games against the club.

Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, who has 16 goals and 41 points this year, had three goals and three assists in last year's Stanley Cup Finals versus the Flyers while with the Blackhawks.

Philadelphia leads the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division by one point over Pittsburgh, but had a four-game win streak halted last night with a 7-5 setback in Boston. The Flyers allowed five goals in the final frame, including an empty-netter.

Brian Boucher allowed a season-high six goals on 36 shots, yielding the game- winner with 1:14 remaining in regulation.

"I didn't see it," Boucher said about the game-deciding tally. "I was covering low because we had a guy skate through, and he shot it, when the guy was skating through and I didn't pick it up."

Danny Briere and Nikolay Zherdev notched a goal and a helper each, while Scott Hartnell and Jeff Carter also scored as Philly lost in regulation when leading after two periods for the first time this season (22-1-2). Defenseman Sean O'Donnell added his first goal in a Flyers uniform and first since March 30 with Los Angeles.

Philadelphia has now split the first two contests of a four-game road trip and lost for the third time in its last 11 as the guest.

Briere has nine goals and 13 assists in 23 career games versus the Thrashers, as well as five goals and five helpers over a five-game point streak. Hartnell, meanwhile, has seven goals over his last seven games.

Rookie Sergei Bobrovsky could get the start over Boucher tonight, which would be his first against Atlanta. Boucher is 4-5-0 with a pair of ties and 2.35 goals-against average versus the club.