<div id="subtitle">Hedberg stops 46 shots, then is perfect in SO to lift Thrashers to 3-2 win over Rangers</div><div><p>Johan Hedberg made 46 saves and then was perfect in two shootout rounds to lift the Atlanta Thrashers to a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Monday night.</p><p>Ilya Kovalchuk and Vyacheslav Kozlov scored on the Thrashers' only shots in the shootout against Henrik Lundqvist. Hedberg made a pad save on NHL-leading goal scorer Marian Gaborik in the first round, then watched the puck slide off the stick of Ales Kotalik before he could muster an attempt.</p><p>Kozlov and Colby Armstrong scored to give Atlanta a pair of one-goal leads in regulation, but Ryan Callahan and Gaborik — with his 23rd goal — had power-play tallies to get New York even. Rangers rookie defenseman Michael Del Zotto had two assists.</p><p>The Rangers recorded a season high in shots, but lost for the seventh time in eight games (1-5-2). New York scored fewer than three goals for the 11th time in 13 games.</p><p>Hedberg is 3-0 in shootouts this season. He has allowed only one goal in eight attempts. Lundqvist fell to 2-1.</p><p>The Thrashers grabbed their second lead when Armstrong scored Atlanta's fifth short-handed goal this season 3:06 into the third period.</p><p>Ron Hainsey cleared the puck out of his end and around the boards in the New York zone, where it bounced past Del Zotto. Armstrong snapped a shot from the right circle past Lundqvist.</p><p>The Rangers, who also gave up a short-handed goal in their 3-2 loss to Buffalo on Saturday, responded this time before the power play ended. Del Zotto made up for his gaffe with a circle-to-circle pass to Gaborik, who snapped a shot in from Hedberg's right that tied it 2-2 at 4:05.</p><p>Atlanta threatened to take the lead again when it had a 5-on-3 power play with less than 6 minutes remaining in regulation that lasted for 1:26. But Lundqvist stood his ground, drawing chants of "Hen-rik" from the crowd.</p><p>Christopher Higgins had a breakaway for New York just after the teams returned to full strength, but Hedberg turned his backhander aside.</p><p>A pair of long passes that produced breakaways led to the Rangers' goal that tied it at 1.</p><p>Despite racking up a large number of shots, New York didn't generate many scoring chances against Hedberg. That changed when defenseman Michal Rozsival hit Chris Drury with a pass from inside the New York blue line that led the Rangers captain into the Atlanta zone.</p><p>Before Drury got off a shot, he was pulled down by Hainsey. Drury wasn't clearly ahead of Hainsey, so he drew a tripping call instead of being awarded a penalty shot.</p><p>It didn't matter, because Del Zotto fired a pass from his goal line all the way to the Atlanta blue line — sending Callahan in alone on Hedberg. Callahan shifted from backhand to forehand to backhand before slipping the puck in at 17:10 for his seventh goal and second in two games.</p><p>Callahan has four goals in eight games following a seven-game drought.</p><p>Kozlov staked Atlanta to a 1-0 lead by scoring a power-play goal with 3:19 left in the first period. The Thrashers, who have won two straight after regulation, had been outshot 14-3 before the goal.</p><p>NOTES: Rangers C Brandon Dubinsky returned after missing 13 games with a broken right hand, sustained while blocking a shot at Calgary on Nov. 7. ... Kozlov has 98 career power-play goals in 1,158 NHL games. ... Kovalchuk has points in 12 of his last 17 games (eight goals, 13 assists). Thrashers D Tobias Enstrom has 16 points in 18 games. ... Atlanta is 11-1 when scoring first and 8-1 when leading after the first period. ... New York's 19 shots in the second period were a season high, topping the 18 in the third period of a 5-3 loss to Atlanta on Nov. 12. The Rangers' previous high for shots in a game was 39 on Nov. 5, a 4-2 win at Edmonton.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=65440525&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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