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Panthers complete road trip vs. Thrashers

Mar 3, 2009 - 2:52 PM Florida (32-23-8) at Atlanta (23-34-6), 7:30 pm EST

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The Florida Panthers will wrap up a five-game road swing Tuesday, seeking back-to-back wins when they square off against the Atlanta Thrashers.

The Panthers easily shook off their worst defensive performance of the season as Stephen Weiss and defensemen Bryan McCabe and Jay Bouwmeester netted power-play goals in Sunday's 6-2 victory over the Washington Capitals.

Florida rebounded from its worst defensive effort of the season - a 7-2 loss at New Jersey on Saturday - to improve to 2-2-0 on its longest road trip this campaign.

"It was a lot better defensive effort and we got rewarded at the other end for it," Panthers coach Peter DeBoer said.

Rich Peverley scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner with 88 seconds remaining in the third period - as the Thrashers rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

Captain Ilya Kovalchuk recorded two goals and three assists for Atlanta, which used a four-goal third period to end a skid in which it had lost three of its previous four contests.