by Tom Reed, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH , The Columbus Dispatch

The Blue Jackets got caught up in Thrashers' Hockey last night in Philips Arena, trading scoring chances and turnovers in rapid succession.

Playing their second game in as many nights, the Blue Jackets won 4-3 despite being badly outshot and committing the game's final seven penalties.

The Jackets led almost the whole way, but could not exhale until they withstood the final 1-minute, 24-second barrage with the Thrashers' net empty and their players pelting goaltender Mathieu Garon with pucks.

"We really haven't seen anything like that," Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash said of the Thrashers' high-risk attack. "They have four guys up every single time and we were getting caught. It was a problem."

The Jackets received two more goals from Raffi Torres and one each from Jake Voracek and Derick Brassard, who played despite a sore right hand.

They also lost another forward when Derek Dorsett crashed heavily into the end boards in the third period and suffered a knee injury, coach Ken Hitchcock said. Dorsett will be re-evaluated this morning.

Hitchcock wasn't pleased with the penalties and turnovers, but he graded on a curve because of the fatigue and short bench brought on by the eight penalty kills.

"Today was about finding a way to win," Hitchcock said. "We had a team sitting here waiting for us and we played back-to-back (games), getting in late."

The Jackets and Thrashers played before an announced crowd of 10,878 fans, who looked like they could have all ridden together. The Thrashers fell to 1-4 at home.

"It's a quiet building and sometimes you get lost in their stick-handling and style," Nash said.

The Blue Jackets continued their dominance of Eastern Conference opposition on the road. They improved to 15-3-3 dating to the start of last season.

The Jackets started quickly with goals from Voracek and Brassard about two minutes apart in the first period. Brassard, who missed a shootout loss Wednesday to San Jose, lobbied the coaches and medical staff to travel to Atlanta.

"I thought I could be some use tonight, especially with (Mike) Blunden getting hurt," Brassard said. "We were short on centers."

The Thrashers cut the deficit to one goal twice in the second period, but Torres restored the two-goal margin each time. Both of his goals came on shots without a Thrashers player within 10 feet of him. He has eight goals, four fewer than last season.

His first goal of the period came on a beautiful feed from minor-league call-up Derek MacKenzie, a former Thrasher.

"I'm just in the right place at the right time," Torres said.

Few of his teammates could say that last night, especially in the defensive zone. The Jackets were outshot 35-21 overall and 29-10 in the final 40 minutes. Garon robbed center Jim Slater on three occasions. The goaltender's only hiccup was a knuckle-balling point shot from Pavel Kubina that cut the Thrashers' deficit to 4-3 early in the third period.

"It was a tough game to play as a goalie," Garon said. "Every time they came into the zone it was a 2-on-1 or 3-on-2 scoring chance. But the bottom line is we found a way."

treed@dispatch.com

Box Story: Game wrap-up

\ THREE STARS

* Raffi Torres, F, Blue Jackets : Scored two more goals and has eight on the season

* Derick Brassard, F, Blue Jackets : Recorded a goal and an assist despite playing with sore hand

* Tobias Enstrom, D, Thrashers: Goal and assist on his 25th birthday

\ GAME SUMMARY

Columbus 2 2 0 -- 4 \ Atlanta 0 2 1 -- 3 \

FIRST PERIOD: Scoring -- 1. Columbus, Voracek 5 (Chimera, Brassard), 10:11; 2. Columbus, Brassard 3 (Voracek, Chimera), 12:18. Penalties -- Tyutin, Clm (delay of game), :36; Slater, Atl (tripping), 17:15; Antropov, Atl (hooking), 19:49.

SECOND: Scoring -- 3. Atlanta, Little 2 (Enstrom, Bogosian), 4:06; 4. Columbus, Torres 7 (MacKenzie, Hejda), 5:49; 5. Atlanta, Enstrom 1 (White, Kozlov), 11:01 (pp); 6. Columbus, Torres 8 (Dorsett, Russell), 12:45. Penalties -- Vermette, Clm (tripping), :43; Torres, Clm (tripping), 6:24; Filatov, Clm (tripping), 10:06; Tyutin, Clm (holding), 17:43.

THIRD: Scoring -- 7. Atlanta, Kubina 2 (Afinogenov, Hainsey), 2:06 (pp). Penalties -- Hejda, Clm (hooking), :21; Dorsett, Clm (hooking), 3:36; Umberger, Clm (holding), 11:43.

Shots on goal: Columbus 11-8-2--21; Atlanta 6-18-11--35. Power plays: Columbus 0 of 2; Atlanta 2 of 8. Goalies: Columbus, Garon 2-1-0 (35 shots-32 saves); Atlanta, Pavelec 5-4-1 (21-17). A: 10,878. T: 2:21.

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