Flyers Thrash Atlanta

Jiri Dopita was more relieved than excited after enjoying the best game of his brief NHL career. Dopita tied a club record with four goals and added an assist as the Flyers beat the Atlanta Thrashers 7-4 Tuesday night to take over undisputed possession of first place in the Atlantic Division. It was the first four-goal game this season in the NHL. "I'm just happy to help," said Dopita, playing in his first NHL season after leading his team to five league championships in the Czech Republic. "It was a lucky game for me today."

Dopita, who had only two goals in his previous 25 games with the Flyers, said he once scored four in a Czech playoff game.

"It's been hard for me," added the 33-year-old center acquired from Florida for a second-round draft pick last June. "It's different here than the European game. There are more checks here."

John LeClair and Justin Williams each had a goal and two assists, and Ruslan Fedotenko added a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who won their fourth straight home game and moved past the idle New York Rangers into the top spot in the division for the first time this season.

Dopita's four goals tied a franchise record reached 14 previous times, most recently by LeClair against Vancouver in 1998.

"Four goal games do not come very often," said Philadelphia coach Bill Barber. "This could be a turning point for Dopita as far as confidence goes. Even if you have confidence and have success, you still need confidence to play. There is a big adjustment here."

Ilya Kovalchuk scored two goals and Lubos Bartecko and Patrik Stefan added the others for the Thrashers, who dropped their fifth straight game. Atlanta is winless in nine games (0-8-1) against Atlantic Division teams.

"Our guys were in the defensive zone all night," said Atlanta coach Curt Fraser. "The Flyers are big and fast. They are all veterans and we could not make any mistakes, none, no turnovers."

Philadelphia goaltender Brian Boucher had 22 saves. Eric Weinrich and Donald Brashear each added two assists for the Flyers, who enjoyed their highest offensive outburst of the season.

Hnat Domenichelli and Frantisek Kaberle had two assists each for Atlanta.

The Thrashers took a 1-0 lead on Kovalchuk's power play goal at 6:13 of the first period. Kovalchuk, the NHL's leading rookie goal scorer with 19, put in a rebound of a shot by Dany Heatley, who leads the league's rookies with 19 assists. Kovalchuk also scored on a breakaway at 10:44 of the third period.

The Flyers came back to go ahead 3-1 in the next 10 minutes. Williams took the puck away from Ray Ferraro and fed LeClair at 8:06, then put back his own shot at 12:19. Dopita scored his first goal on a one-timer at 16:55 after Atlanta's Mike Weaver lost the puck behind the net.

Bartecko's wrist shot from the slot brought Atlanta within 3-2 at 3:39 of the second period. Dopita then tipped in a hard shot by LeClair at 6:04, chasing Thrashers' goaltender Milan Hnilicka, who allowed four goals on 12 shots.

Dopita got his third goal 2:40 later, scoring on a scramble in front of the goal. He added his fourth from the right slot on a power play at 8:32 of the third period after taking a pass from Keith Primeau. Fedotenko got his 10th goal midway through the final period.

Stefan scored with 1:07 left when his shot from high in the slot bounced off Boucher's glove into the net.

Philadelphia is unbeaten in 14 games (13-0-1) against Southeast Division teams.

Notes:
Ferraro, Atlanta's captain, played in his 1,219th game, tying him for 45th on the NHL career list with Eric Nesterenko. ... Philadelphia defenseman Eric Desjardins had an assist in his first appearance since breaking his left index finger at Atlanta 13 games ago. ... Simon Gagne, who leads the Flyers with 17 goals, returned after missing two games with a bruised left shoulder. ... Philadelphia's Mark Recchi had an apparent goal disallowed at 7:35 of the first period when officials ruled that he kicked in the puck with his skate. ... The Flyers have a nine-game unbeaten streak against Atlanta (7-0-2) and have never lost to the Thrashers at home (3-0-2).

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 - ABC, Action News