Hurricanes 6, Thrashers 1
Rookie Jeff Skinner and Tuomo Ruutu collected a goal and two assists apiece and Cam Ward made 18 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes moved into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference by cruising to a 6-1 rout of the Atlanta Thrashers on Friday.
Jussi Jokinen recorded a goal and an assist and defenseman Joni Pitkanen, Brandon Sutter and Erik Cole also tallied for the Hurricanes (40-30-11), who pulled even with the New York Rangers (43-33-5) with 91 points.
Carolina owns the tiebreaker over New York and controls its own destiny. The Hurricanes are 5-0-1 in their last six games and finish up at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
Skinner got the rout started with his 31st tally at the 3:03 mark of the first period and Cole doubled the advantage with his 26th of the campaign just over three minutes later.
Pitkanen snuck one past Pavelec just 32 seconds into the second period and Carolina put it away with three goals in the third.
The Thrashers avoided the shutout when Bryan Little scored his 18th goal with 39 seconds left in the game.