NHL: Thrashers fire Hartley after slow start

A six-game losing streak to start this season put Bob Hartley’s job in danger. A quick ouster in last season’s playoffs did not help his cause.

Hartley was fired Wednesday as coach of the Atlanta Thrashers, the only NHL team without a victory. General manager Don Waddell will coach the team until a replacement is found.

Waddell said the Thrashers were playing as if they have not recovered from losing four straight games to the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs last season.

“The emotions were so high last year going into the playoffs and we went out quickly and to be honest I don’t know if we’ve recovered from that yet,” Waddell said. “If you look we’ve lost 10 games in a row now, including the last four last year. That’s where I believe a change has to be made.”

Waddell said he has no timetable for a hiring and indicated he may look for a coach who is less intense than Hartley.

“Maybe we’ve got to back off a little bit and let the players have some fun in the game,” Waddell said.

“Certainly Bob has been here a long time. … We weren’t getting the most, particularly out of our veteran players, and that was a concern,” he said.

Hartley did not attend Wednesday’s news conference and did not return a phone message.

Michael Gearon Jr., who represented the ownership group at the announcement, said there was great concern the team was losing all momentum gained from winning the Southeast Division last season and making its first playoff appearance. The Thrashers have been outscored 27-9, including a 4-0 loss at Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

“From our perspective, it’s important to see progress,” Gearon said. “From the start of this season we’re not seeing that.”

On the ice

Devils 5, Penguins 4: At Pittsburgh, Arron Asham’s tiebreaking goal with 9:22 left gave New Jersey a victory over the Penguins.

Blues 3, Blackhawks 1: At Chicago, Keith Tkachuk had a goal and an assist, and Manny Legace stopped 28 shots to help St. Louis beat the Blackhawks for its fourth straight victory.

Stars 3, Blue Jackets 2 (SO): At Columbus, Ohio, Jussi Jokinen scored in regulation and had the only shootout goal to give Dallas a victory over the Blue Jackets before the smallest crowd (11,820) to watch an NHL game at Nationwide Arena.

Ducks 3, Predators 1: At Anaheim, Calif., Petteri Wirtanen and Drew Miller scored third-period goals and the Ducks topped Nashville. Ryan Suter’s first goal of the season for the Predators knotted the score at 2:24 in the third.