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  Wednesday, Dec. 22 7:30pm ET
Too-many-men call costs Panthers
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- Too many men for Florida added up to one nice comeback for Atlanta.

Andrew Brunette scored with 43 seconds left in regulation Wednesday night and Dean Sylvester tallied two goals as the Atlanta Thrashers rallied for a 3-3 tie with the Florida Panthers.

Rob Niedermayer
Florida's Rob Niedermayer is denied by Atlanta goalie Norm Maracle during overtime Wednesday.
The tying goal was scored with Atlanta on the power play following a Florida too many men on the ice penalty.

"We stayed focused," Atlanta coach Curt Fraser said. "You should know that we have thick enough skin to know that it's never over until it's over, and we keep plugging away."

The Thrashers, who have the league's worst road record (2-12-2), trailed 3-1 in the final period before storming back.

"The guys did a great job of working themselves back for a point. We really needed this," Fraser said.

Sylvester's second goal of the night at 7:38 pulled Atlanta within 3-2, and Brunette's backhander past Mikhail Shtalenkov tied it on the power-play at 19:17.

"We were battling in the corner, and I was just trying to get into position out in front," Brunette said. "Fortunately, the puck came to me and I was able to get it upstairs."

While on the power play, the Thrashers, who snapped an eight-game losing streak, pulled goalie Norm Maracle to gain a 6-on-4 skating advantage and tied the game with 1:35 left.

The Panthers, who lead the Southeast Division by 10 points, collapsed for the second straight time at home. Florida wasted a 4-2 lead against Toronto on Monday, allowing four goals in the third period in a 6-4 defeat.

Florida was 15-0 when leading after two periods, but gave Atlanta too many chances.

"Maybe we're getting a bit too complacent," Panthers captain Scott Mellanby said. "It's the little things you do early in the game that are giving us success, and we have to keep doing those things the entire game."

Pavel Bure established a Panthers record by scoring a point in his ninth-straight game.

Bure, the Panthers leader with 34 points, assisted on Svehla's goal in the first period and has 12 goals and seven assists during the stretch.

Robert Svehla and Mark Parrish scored 19 seconds apart in the first period to give the Panthers to a 2-0 lead.

Shtalenkov, playing in place of injured starter Trevor Kidd, had his second straight rough outing.

Svhela scored Florida's first goal at 4:51 on a rebound following a miss by Viktor Kozlov. The goal was Svehla's fourth this season and first since Oct. 20.

Parrish put the Panthers up 2-0 just 19 seconds later when he tipped in a blast from the left circle by Bret Hedican at 5:10.

Sylvester's first goal pulled Atlanta within 2-1 at 13:18 of the first. Patrik Stefan dug the puck out from behind the net and sent a pass to Sylvester, who was waiting just outside the crease.

Florida grabbed a 3-1 lead on Scott Mellanby's seventh goal with 1:56 left in the period. Kozlov drove in and missed from close range, but Mellanby stuffed the puck past Maracle.

 


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AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Andrew Brunette scores the tying goal against Thrashers.
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