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Frolik nets two as Panthers edge Thrashers

Mar 4, 2009 - 4:21 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Rookie Michael Frolik netted a pair of goals and the Florida Panthers scored three times during the second period en route to a 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday.

Cory Stillman and Richard Zednik also tallied in the middle session for the Panthers, who finished their season-long, six-game road trip with a 4-2-0 record.

"It was the end of a road trip. We got a little bit of a slow start," Florida coach Peter DeBoer said. "We measured what their desperation level was in the first period. We found that it was pretty high, and we figured we better match it or we weren't going to get two points tonight."

Stephen Weiss collected three assists and Tomas Vokoun made 27 saves for Florida (33-23-8), which grabbed sole possession of sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

"It's important points for us. Every point is important," Frolik said. "Every game is important right now. We have to be focused and play (hard) every single game."

Colby Armstrong, Jim Slater and captain Ilya Kovalchuk scored and Kari Lehtonen stopped 30 shots for the Thrashers, who have lost four of their last six games.

"Sometimes rebounds get out, but it seemed tonight that they landed on their sticks," Lehtonen said. "We started the game very good, but the second was bad for us and that cost us big time."

Frolik leveled the contest at 2-2 at 2:41 of the second period, collecting his second tally of the night by firing a backhander past Lehtonen. Frolik is tied for third among NHL rookies with 17 goals.

"We just tried to shoot the puck and get rebounds," Frolik said. "That's what happened with me. I just tried to go to the net."

The Panthers grabbed their first lead of the game with 5:09 remaining in the session after Karlis Skrastins controlled the puck behind the goalline to draw Lehtonen well out of position.

Skrastins delivered a centering pass to Stillman, who fought off two defenders and deposited the puck into the open net to make it 3-2.

Zednik doubled the advantage with 50 seconds left in the period, capitalizing on a lot of traffic in front of the net. Defenseman Bryan McCabe's shot did not get through and bounced to Zednik, who unleashed a quick wrist shot from the left circle past Lehtonen.

"We were able to get that two goal lead, which was enough for the two points and definitely a turning point for us," Weiss said. "When we have leads, we're a pretty confident team, especially with the goaltending we're getting."

Atlanta cut the deficit in half on Kovalchuk's team-leading 35th goal of the campaign with 2:59 remaining in the final session.

"I thought we had a little bit of poise," Thrashers coach John Anderson said. "We messed up a few times, but the goals that were scored on us were because our forwards didn't pick up the lead coming in the second period. Our defense will get better once we get to know each other a little better."