(My Sportsbook) - Sophomore phenom Ilya Kovalchuk is still cutting his teeth in the National Hockey League, both in terms of his skills and decorum.

During Monday night's 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers, a setback that dropped the Thrashers to 0-5-0-1 on the young season, Kovalchuk scored the game's first goal and decided to taunt the opposing bench.

If you recall on October 12, Kovalchuk was penalized for using an illegally curved stick against the Panthers, after coach Mike Keenan challenged the blade in the waning moments of overtime. The penalty wiped out an Atlanta power play and the Cats' Olli Jokinen proceeded to bag the game-winner a mere 14 seconds later.

So when Kovalchuk stuffed the puck past Florida's Roberto Luongo on a power play 15:20 into the opening period Monday night, he felt he had to make his voice heard, and pointed to his new stick blade.

"It had a little snow on it," Kovalchuk, who scored 29 goals as a rookie last year, said after the contest. "I was just cleaning it off."

The 19-year-old Kovalchuk's actions might have been less glaring had the Thrashers held onto their third-period lead and won their first game of the season. Taunting and not coming through with the "W" is, however, a definite no-no.

"He lost the game, didn't he?" Panthers enforcer Peter Worrell said. "If he's going to show us the blade, he better make sure he wins the game."

Panthers coach Mike Keenan gave his opinion of Kovalchuk's act.

"Excellent players in the league, such as Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux and Peter Forsberg, they don't do that," Keenan said. "They have a lot more respect for the game and for the people they're playing with and against."

UP NEXT

The Thrashers' quest for their first win or tie resumes Wednesday at home against New Jersey.