DENVER -- Kari Lehtonen had 35 saves in earning his third shutout of the season and the Atlanta Thrashers beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Lehtonen's 14th NHL shutout helped the Thrashers improve to 8-4-1 in their last 13 games. The surge includes a two-game season sweep of the Avalanche, who lost for the seventh time in eight games. It was the eighth time this season Colorado was shut out.
Todd White and Zach Bogosian staked Atlanta to a 2-0 lead and Rich Peverley added an empty-netter to seal the victory.
While Lehtonen's effort in the net was at the center of the Avalanche's offensive frustration, they also had to deal with some tough luck.
Colorado got off 35 shots but saw a pair of solid shots by Milan Hejduk and Darcy Tucker hit the crossbar. Rookie Matt Hendricks also hit the post with a drive.
The Thrashers took a 1-0 lead with 2:28 remaining in the second period. Ilya Kovalchuk shoveled the puck across the ice to Bogosian, whose slap shot from the middle of the right circle got past goalie Peter Budaj's glove.
With 0.6 seconds remaining in the period, the Thrashers scored again - a power-play goal from White. Budaj blocked White's first shot but lost control of the rebound, and White put in his 18th goal.
Budaj was pulled from the net with 1:42 left and Peverley made it 3-0 39 seconds later.
Wednesday
July 16th, 2025
2:25PM
