Cassivi stops 50 shots as Thrashers edge Sens in OT

OTTAWA -- Atlanta goaltender Frederic Cassivi stole one point for the Thrashers and Dany Heatley nabbed a second.

Cassivi made 50 saves in his second NHL start and Heatley scored 1:41 into overtime as the Thrashers beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Saturday night.

Heatley poked Andy Sutton's rebound past rookie goaltender Martin Prusek, who was making his regular-season debut for the Senators.

Atlanta has won two straight.

"That's two solid games," Heatley said. "Guys are just going out and having fun."

Tomi Kallio and Chris Tamer also scored for Atlanta, which is tied with Florida for last place overall.

With Milan Hnilicka and Damian Rhodes nursing injuries, Cassivi got the start. The former Senators draft choice, 210th overall in 1994, was recalled from AHL Chicago on Wednesday.

Cassivi, 26, stopped 12-of-13 shots that night in Tampa Bay against the Lightning in relief of Hnilicka and made his first start Friday in New York, where he stopped 33-of-35 shots in a 5-2 victory over the Rangers. Against Ottawa, he was even better.

"I'm very happy," the 6-4 netminder said. "We're working hard. We've got a lot of young guys here trying to prove something, like myself. There's a lot of heart in this room and you can see it on the ice."

Radek Bonk and Benoit Brunet, with his first goal since a trade from the Dallas Stars last week, replied for Ottawa. The Senators lost a third straight game and fell four points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for fourth overall in the Eastern Conference.

The Senators went 1-for-9 on the power play. The Thrashers were 0-for-2.

"You'd like to put a few of those in," Ottawa defenseman Wade Redden said. "But we couldn't find a way to beat (Cassivi). He looked pretty big out there and covered the net pretty well."

With Patrick Lalime given the night off and backup Jani Hurme out with the flu, Prusek, a 26-year-old Czech, was recalled Friday from AHL Grand Rapids. He stopped 12-of-15 shots.

The Senators dominated play through the opening 20 minutes, outshooting the Thrashers 22-1.

Ottawa finally broke through on its 27th shot, when Bonk shoveled Martin Havlat's rebound in on the power play six minutes into the second period.

Kallio tied the game three minutes later when he converted a two-on-one pass from J.P. Vigier. Brunet and Tamer traded goals in the third.

"After the first period, we were playing really well and couldn't score," Senators right winger Daniel Alfredsson said. "Once in a while a game like this happens."

Atlanta lost center Kamil Piros to a knee injury when he was pushed into the boards from behind by Senators defenseman Sami Salo. Salo was later on the receiving end of an elbow from Dan Snyder and left the game with a back injury. Snyder received a major penalty and game misconduct on the play.

"You don't want anyone to get hurt, but it's nice to see guys compete with an edge," Thrashers coach Curt Fraser said of the hit.

Notes: The announced Corel Centre attendance was 16,061. ... Ottawa also lost center Jody Hull with an injury to his right shoulder.