ATLANTA (AP) -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are starting to resemble

the defending Stanley Cup champions.

The Atlanta Thrashers are playing like a team that will be

sitting home again at playoff time.

Fredrik Modin scored two goals, including the winner off an

Atlanta player, and the Lightning rallied for a 3-2 victory over

the slumping Thrashers on Saturday night.

John Grahame made 29 saves for Tampa Bay, which has a

season-high three-game winning streak. The Lightning came up with a

gritty performance to win on consecutive nights after falling

behind 2-0 in the second period.

"We had back-to-back games, so we just wanted to chip away,"

said Modin, who has seven goals this season. "You know, chip away

at each chance we get."

Tampa Bay got its chance with Serge Aubin in the penalty box for

boarding.

Modin fired the puck toward the front of the net and got credit

for the goal when it deflected off the leg of defenseman Niclas

Havelid, sliding past goalie Steve Shields with 12:57 remaining.

"There wasn't a guy over there on the far side, so I went over

there to cover and it hit my leg," Havelid said. "It wasn't a

lucky bounce."

Atlanta, which has never made the playoffs, lost for the seventh

time in eight games. The Thrashers have wasted leads in the last

two, losing 7-5 at Pittsburgh on Thursday after jumping ahead 4-0

less than 10 minutes in.

"This is a tough loss because we played so well," coach Bob

Hartley said. "There's only one solution, and that's to keep

working. I think good things will happen, but we have to keep

believing."

Tampa Bay had an insurance goal waved off with just under five

minutes remaining when Ruslan Fedotenko was penalized for

interfering with Shields.

The Thrashers pulled Shields with just over a minute to go, but

Ilya Kovalchuk ruined the extra-man advantage by getting penalized

for interference.

Grahame made a couple of key stops on Kovalchuk, who had a

team-high five shots on goal.

"You just have to stay focused and say you're going to make the

big save," Grahame said. "I knew we'd get some goals and some

power plays."

Atlanta broke a scoreless tie just past the midway point, with

Marc Savard scoring his fifth goal after a nifty bit of passing.

Ronald Petrovicky dumped off the puck to Slava Kozlov, then broke

to the net to create a screen. Kozlov slid a pass to Savard, who

one-timed a shot past Grahame.

Less than two minutes later, Marian Hossa knocked the puck past

a helpless Grahame for a power-play goal. Bobby Holik made it

happen, collecting a rebound right in front of the goalie, then

backhanding a pass to the wide-open Hossa at the side of the net.

But Tampa Bay fought back to tie it before the end of the

period. Modin scored his first goal, taking a pass from Brad

Richards at the top of the circle and blasting a shot past Shields

on the short side.

With just over a minute to go, Richards picked up one of his

own. He redirected Vaclav Prospal's high shot from along the boards

past Shields.

At least the Thrashers played much better than their previous

meeting against Tampa Bay. Nine days earlier, the Lightning scored

four goals in the first period and cruised to a 6-0 win in Atlanta.

Late in that game, Eric Boulton of the Thrashers delivered a

cheap shot to the head of Tampa Bay defenseman Paul Ranger, who

sustained a hairline fracture of the jaw and a concussion. Boulton

received a six-game suspension from the NHL.Game notes
Thrashers C Patrik Stefan left the game with a strained

oblique muscle and didn't return. ... The Lightning gave up its

first power-play goal on the road this season and just its the

third overall. ... Both teams had new backup goalies. Tampa Bay's

Sean Burke strained his groin during a morning workout, forcing the

Lightning to call up Brian Eklund from the AHL. The Thrashers

activated Mike Dunham, who had missed six games with a groin

injury.