(My Sportsbook) - Well, at least the Maple Leafs don't have the distinction of being the victim of the Atlanta Thrashers' first victory of the season.

They did, however, yield the lowly club its first tie of the campaign with a 3-3 deadlock at Air Canada Centre Thursday night. Atlanta's Patrik Stefan helped erase The Leafs' second lead of the match with a goal at 15:26 of the third period.

Stefan was able to score after goaltender Ed Belfour strayed out of position during the play, and wasn't backed up by the proper defensive coverage. Frantisek Kaberle had the puck in the right circle and faked a shot to draw Belfour away from the net. Kaberle then sent a pass to the left side of the crease for an unmarked Stefan, who deposited the puck into the empty cage.

The Leafs nearly scored with 34 seconds remaining in regulation, but Thrashers goalie Pasi Nurminen came up with an incredible save. Nurminen failed to handle a bouncing puck in the crease and Alyn McCauley swept in for Toronto and tried to chip it over the prone netminder, who was able to kick his right leg up in the air to keep the puck out of the net.

"This is one of those games we should win," winger Mikael Renberg said. "It's frustrating because I feel that we worked hard out there, and we want to win so bad, but I don't know what to say."

Toronto outshot the Thrashers by a 35-20 margin, but were simply frustrated by Nurminen, who played in place of regular starter Milan Hnilicka as part of Atlanta coach Curt Fraser's plan to shake things up.

"We don't want to make excuses or anything, but [Nurminen] stood on his head," right wing Tie Domi said. "I've never heard of him before, so good for him."

Pat Quinn's crew is 2-6-2 since opening the season with a 6-0 victory in Pittsburgh against a Penguins team that has played very well since.

"These games are too hard to win to beat yourself, right now we are," Quinn said.

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Thursday's match was the fifth installment of a seven-game homestand for the Leafs, who will host Montreal in the fourth annual Hall of Fame Game Saturday. The set then concludes Tuesday against Tampa Bay.