Lehtonen sets shutout record in Atlanta win

Kari Lehtonen set a team record for shutout minutes before finally giving up a goal, and the Atlanta Thrashers won their third straight by defeating the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Wednesday night at Atlanta.

Marian Hossa kept up his strong start with a goal and two assists. He has four goals and eight points in the Thrashers’ first four games.

Atlanta has picked up at least one point in every game. The Thrashers began their winning streak after a shootout loss on opening night.

After back-to-back shutouts, Lehtonen stretched his scoreless streak to 167 minutes, 56 seconds before P.J. Axelsson scored off a deflection at 5:14 of the second period. Still, the Atlanta goalie broke Michael Garnett’s team record of 155:55 over a three-game span last December. He finished with 22 saves.

Canadiens 3, Flyers 1: At Philadelphia, David Aebischer stopped 27 shots, and Michael Ryder and Alex Kovalev scored goals to lead Montreal to the win.

The Canadiens only needed regulation time to put this one away after opening the season with two straight shootouts.

Red Wings 9, Coyotes 2: At Detroit, Mathieu Schneider had three goals and an assist to key the win over Phoenix.

Mikael Samuelsson scored twice, Pavel Datsyuk added a goal and two assists, and Henrik Zetterberg, Jason Williams, and Tomas Holmstrom had a goal and an assist each.

Panthers 6, Hurricanes 3: At Sunrise, Fla., Gary Roberts and Olli Jokinen each scored twice to help Florida beat Carolina and keep the defending Stanley Cup champions winless this season.

Stephen Weiss added a goal and two assists for the Panthers (2-1-1). Martin Gelinas also scored, and Jokinen and Todd Bertuzzi each had two assists.

Islanders 5, Ducks 4 (SO): At Anaheim, Calif., Mike York, Trent Hunter and Chris Simon scored in a 1:46 span of the second period, then York got the deciding goal in the sixth round of a shootout to give New York its first win.

Alexei Yashin scored the tying goal with 3:43 left in regulation for the Islanders, who had opened the season with three straight losses for the first time in the franchise’s 35-year history. They won despite getting outshot 50-24.