Generous pass Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier (4) intercepts a pass by Atlanta's Ronald Petrovic... Power played out...

Generous pass Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier (4) intercepts a pass by Atlanta's Ronald Petrovicky (26) during the first period Tuesday night in Tampa. Backing up the play are Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis (26) and Atlanta's Niclas Havelid (28).

The Lightning failed to kill off a penalty on four occasions. The Atlanta Thrashers used those four power-play tallies to pull out a 6-4 win over the Lightning.

It is the first time in franchise history that the Bolts (7-4-2) have allowed four power-play goals on home ice. The last time Tampa Bay allowed three man-advantage goals at home was Feb. 4, 2003, in a 5-1 loss to Washington.

The Lightning killed off 59 of 62 penalties through October. Without killing one off, the Bolts squandered a two-goal effort from Brad Richards, one being shorthanded.

Jaroslav Modry had two power-play goals. Ilya Kovalchuk had three assists and an empty-net goal. Peter Bondra and Slava Kozlov each had two assists and a goal.

"Our goaltending and special teams were key," said Atlanta coach Bob Hartley. "Our penalty killers didn't give life to the Lightning. Staying away from the box, you keep your best players out on the ice in offensive roles."

Atlanta has converted 12 of its last 34 power plays over the past five games. Tampa Bay missed on two power plays and is a woeful 10-for-85, third-worst in the league.

It came on a defensive mixup. Marian Hossa skated around Darryl Sydor and Pavel Kubina and flipped the puck over the left shoulder of Lightning goalie John Grahame. Sydor was guarding Hossa, but failed to get over in time to help.

The Thrashers got a key insurance goal when they got another power play. With Kubina off for tripping, Modry fired one past Grahame with 7:01 to go.

"They have a good offensive team," Tortorella said of the Thrashers. "They found a way to score goals. Even at the end, I thought we were going to tie things up. We wanted to play five on five."

The Lightning controlled the final seven minutes, closing to 5-4 when Vinny Prospal got one past Shields with 4:52 left. But Shields denied Martin St. Louis and Ruslan Fedotenko.

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admin – Wed, 2005 – 11 – 02 12:00