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White, Little lift Thrashers past Panthers

Sep 27, 2007 - 2:24 AM By Rick Menning PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- A newcomer and a top prospect provided a spark for the Atlanta Thrashers.

Todd White and Bryan Little scored power-play goals 43 seconds apart in the third period, leading the Thrashers to a 4-1 preseason triumph over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

Penalties caught up with the Panthers in a decisive way in the third period when, following a double-minor to defenseman Branislav Mezei for high-sticking at 1:52, White and Little beat goaltender Tomas Vokoun from close range to give the Thrashers a 3-1 advantage.

A two-time 20-goal scorer, White was signed as a free agent over the summer after two seasons with Minnesota. Little was Atlanta's first-round pick - 12th overall - in the 2006 draft.

Less than four minutes later, the 19-year-old Little fired a soft shot to the left of Vokoun, who appeared off-balance on the play and, for the first time, heard boos from the sparce crowd at the BankAtlantic Center.

The Southeast Division rivals quickly reintroduced themselves as Florida's Anthony Stewart and Atlanta's Boris Valabik dropped the gloves just seconds into the game. Valabik took exception to being boarded by Stewart behind the Thrashers' net and the two tangled, providing the only real excitement of a scoreless first period.

After coming up empty on their previous four power-play opportunities in the second, the Thrashers finally managed to get the puck past Vokoun on their fifth chance. With two seconds left on a hooking penalty to Florida defenseman Ruslan Salei, Brett Sterling beat Vokoun to the stick side at 17:06 for a 1-0 lead.

But the Panthers got the equalizer with just 12 seconds left in the session, when Brett McLean took a feed from Gregory Campbell and put a backhander past netminder Kari Lehtonen.

The fans let their feelings be known about both the Panthers' effort in their own end and the play of Vokoun down the stretch. Acquired over the summer in a trade with Nashville, Vokoun looked nothing like the goalie who turned back some point-blank shots during a second period that saw Atlanta dominate in the offensive zone but wind up stymied before Sterling's tally.

The Panthers were the ones applying the pressure early in the first period, with McLean and Kamil Kreps getting some good scoring chances against Lehtonen. The Thrashers countered with a late-period surge during their only power-play chance of the session, but Vokoun came up big on several one-timers.

Vokoun finished with 36 saves, while Lehtonen turned aside 26 shots.

Vyacheslav Kozlov collected two assists for the Thrashers.