Garnett was yanked after giving up three goals on seven shots in the first 11:34, two of them on stoppable shots. Berkhoel took over and turned away 26 of 29 shots, but it didn’t matter.

The Thrashers’ problems go beyond their last line of defense. They have been shut out three times in their first seven games. In their first five losses, they have scored only two goals.

Ilya Kovalchuk, who missed the first three games in a contract dispute, has managed only one goal since returning to the Thrashers. He was booed when he let the puck slip under his stick with Atlanta on the power play.

“We have a great group of players, but this is embarrassing,” Hartley said. “There’s no other way to explain the way we’ve played. It’s embarrassing.”

Martin St. Louis opened the scoring just 1:25 into the game, somehow slipping a puck past Garnett with a shot along the goal line.

Garnett gave the Thrashers a lift when he stopped Ruslan Fedotenko on a penalty shot, but it didn’t last long. Modin scored at 3:37, beating a helpless Garnett on a 2-on-1 after taking a perfect pass from Lecavalier.

Then, less than a minute later, Garnett failed to stop Fedotenko’s wrist shot from the top of the circle, prompting Hartley to send in his other rookie goalie.

Hartley refused to blame his young goalies for the latest loss.

“Those two young kids are trying to battle,” he said. “Why would I waste any time on the two kids. We had no goals. Three shutouts in seven games — that’s absolutely unacceptable.”

Notes: The Thrashers are the first team since the 1993-94 Detroit Red Wings to use four goalies in their first six games. ... Vaclav Prospal scored Tampa Bay’s other goal late in the second period.

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