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Hurricanes, Thrashers battle for playoff positioning

Feb 13, 2011 - 3:53 PM (Sports Network) - Though there is still plenty of hockey left, it never hurts to have an early advantage. That is what the Carolina Hurricanes and Atlanta Thrashers are shooting for this evening when they battle at Philips Arena for sole possession of the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Hurricanes and Thrashers come into the fourth meeting of the season against each other with 60 points each, three ahead of the 10th-place Sabres. The two teams also trail the Rangers by two points for the seventh spot. New York is hosting Pittsburgh this afternoon.

Though Carolina has won four straight and six of the previous seven meetings overall, the three contests this season have all gone past regulation. Sergei Samsonov had the shootout winner when the teams last met in Atlanta on Dec. 16, Carolina's fourth straight win at Philips Arena, while Erik Cole posted consecutive overtime winners in Carolina versus the Thrashers on Jan. 9 and Feb. 5, respectively.

Cole also broke out some heroics on Saturday in Tampa as he and rookie Jeff Skinner lit the lamp 19 seconds apart inside the final minute of the third period to force overtime. However, Carolina dropped a 4-3 decision when the Lightning's Marc-Andre Bergeron scored 1:32 into the extra frame.

"We went to the well a little bit to the bench and they played as hard as they could," said Carolina head coach Paul Maurice. "I'm glad we got a good result out the third period, anyway."

Cam Ward, who was on the bench for the Hurricanes' final two goals, made 37 saves and Joni Pitkanen had two assists after missing the team's last game due to a lower-body injury. Carolina, though, fell to 0-1-2 on a five-game road trip and has lost five of its last six overall.

The Hurricanes will be trying to avoid losing four in a row for the first time this season.

Ward is 17-8-2 with a 3.04 goals-against average in his career against the Thrashers.

Atlanta pulled off a winning rally on Friday, with Evander Kane scoring twice during a 3 1/2-minute span of the third period to lift his team to a 3-2 decision over the New York Rangers and snap a four-game slide that included last Saturday's loss to the Hurricanes.

"It's a huge win for us," said Kane, who also had an assist to match a career high with three points. "We were a desperate hockey club tonight and for us to get two points in regulation is huge for us. We needed these points badly, especially not giving them away to a team that we're competing with."

Anthony Stewart had a goal and an assist and Ondrej Pavelec made 27 saves for the Thrashers, who are still just 2-4-3 in their past nine and won for only the second time in their last eight at home.

The Thrashers got a boost at the blue line with the return of Tobias Enstrom, who had sat out the previous six games with a broken finger.

Pavelec should get the call tonight and is 2-3-2 with a 3.98 GAA in his career versus the Hurricanes.