Atlanta thrashed on the ice as well

By TIM WHARNSBY -- Toronto Sun Mats Sundin wishes he had an invitation to the party.
While his teammates reeled off their third consecutive win at the Air Canada Centre last night -- a 4-0 decision against the expansion Atlanta Thrashers -- the Maple Leafs captain proclaimed himself fit to play against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.
But Leafs general manager/coach Pat Quinn, who gave his players today off, didn't like the idea of his superstar returning with just one practice under his belt after suffering a non-displaced fracture on his right foot three weeks ago. Sundin was injured Oct. 9 blocking a shot by the Ottawa Senators' Radek Bonk.
Sundin, who will skate on his own today for the fourth consecutive day, likely will be cleared to practise with the team tomorrow. So look for Sundin to return Wednesday in Carolina against the Hurricanes.
By then the Leafs hope to be riding a four-game winning streak, something they have failed to accomplish in 19 previous attempts since February 1994.
"I haven't started thinking about it yet," Quinn said.
What Quinn was thinking about was his club's back-to-back shutouts against the Dallas Stars and Atlanta and the continued stellar play of his new line of Dmitri Khristich, Nik Antropov and Mike Johnson.
The line has been so good since being put together last Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens, it needs a nickname. So we give you Nik and The Ice Guys.
The line has combined for seven goals and 12 points in three games.
Khristich, with a pair, and Johnson scored last night. Alexander Karpovtsev added a power-play goal in the third period.
"A lot of the credit has to go to Dmitri," Johnson said. "He is as good as advertised and more."
Although the Leafs displayed spurts of careless hockey, Quinn was content with their overall defensive work. They have not allowed a goal in 159 minutes 36 seconds, dating back to early in the second period of the Montreal game last Saturday.
The Leafs have allowed just 22 goals this season, 13 fewer than after 12 games in 1998-99.
Backup Glenn Healy stopped 16 shots -- the fewest allowed by the Leafs this season -- for a shutout that comes on the heels of Curtis Joseph's 17-save shutout Monday in a 4-0 victory against Dallas.
It's the first time that the Leafs have had back-to-back shutouts at home since Mike Palmateer blanked Buffalo and Philadelphia on Oct. 18 and 21, 1978. It was the first time they've recorded successive shutouts since Felix Potvin blanked Detroit and Chicago on Jan. 21 and 22, 1998.
Healy picked up his first shutout since he blanked the Leafs as a New York Ranger on March 7, 1996.
"I was close in San Jose one night a couple of years ago, until Bernie Nicholls thought he was Pele. He kicked the puck from a frozen situation under my glove and cut me for 15 stitches (with a minute to go)," said Healy, who shared that shutout with Marcel Cousineau.
For Healy, now 2-1, it was his 12th career shutout.
The Leafs held Atlanta to just two shots in the opening period, the fewest they have allowed in a period this season. Toronto outshot the visitors 37-16 and now have killed off 10 consecutive man-short situations.

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