Armstrong helps Thrashers end season with win over Tampa

Hockey Betting Lines

04/11/2009 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colby Armstrong scored twice to lead the Atlanta Thrashers past the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-2, in a battle between two teams eliminated from the playoffs at Philips Arena.

Eric Perrin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Ron Hainsey, and Colin Stuart also lit the lamp for the Thrashers (35-41-6), who had a three-game losing streak going into the tilt. Marty Reasoner had two assists. Kari Lehtonen stopped 33 shots to collect the win.

Atlanta ended the season with 76 points.

"Hopefully this summer were going to do some things to improve this team. I want to compete for the Stanley Cup and I think the city deserves it," Kovalchuk said.

Matt Pettinger and Steven Stamkos scored for the Lightning (24-40-18), who lost nine consecutive games to finish the season. Mike McKenna stopped 11- of-15 shots while Karri Ramo finished the game in net and gave up two goals on 11 shots.

Tampa Bay finished the season with 66 points.

Atlanta drew first blood on a power-play goal from Armstrong at the 7:10 mark of the first period.

The Thrashers used a short-handed goal from Perrin with 3:30 remaining to extend their margin to 2-0. Reasoner, who was stationed at the left circle, dumped the disc off to Perrin at the right circle. Perrin fired a shot top shelf to beat McKenna.

Pettinger's power-play goal with 2:43 left in the first cut the deficit to 2-1. Pettinger swatted in a bouncing puck in front of the net to beat Lehtonen.

The Lightning outshot the Thrashers 13-7 in the first stanza but trailed by one heading to the second.

Atlanta took control of the game by scoring three goals in the second frame.

Kovalchuk lit the lamp at the 9:15 mark, Hainsey scored a power-play goal with 5:51 remaining, and Armstrong tallied his second goal of the tilt with 3:28 left to give the Thrashers a 5-1 advantage going into the third.

Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay 46 seconds into the third period, while Stuart lit the lamp about six minutes later for Atlanta to account for the final score.

Game Notes

The Thrashers went 2-for-7 on the power play, while the Lightning went 1- for-5...There was a total of 54 penalty minutes in the game...Atlanta won the season series with Tampa Bay, 4-1-1...The Lightning finished the season with a 12-22-7 record as the visiting team. The Thrashers ended the season with a 18-21-2 mark at home.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.