-----------------------------
Ottawa 2 0 1--3
Atlanta 1 1 0--2
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Atlanta, Guolla 3 (Kallio, Donovan), 9:18.
2, Ottawa, Bonk 6 (power play) (V Prospal, Redden), 11:37. 3, Ottawa,
Zamuner 8 (Havlat, V Prospal), 13:05. Penalties: Lambert, Atl (hooking),
9:56; Odgers, Atl (slashing), 15:25.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Atlanta, Ferraro 5 (Burt), 3:44. Penalties:
Bonk, Ott (elbowing), 7:28; Ottawa bench, served by V Prospal (too many
men on the ice), 12:14; Rachunek, Ott (interference), 15:35; Domenichelli,
Atl (holding), 19:13; York, Ott (Diving), 19:13.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Ottawa, Hossa 7 (Bonk), 17:54. Penalties:
Hnidy, Ott (tripping), 4:15.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Ottawa 5 5 10--20
Atlanta 15 12 6--33
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Ott - 1 of 2, Atl - 0 of 4. Goalies: Ottawa,
Hurme (33 shots, 31 saves; record: 6-1-3). Atlanta, Hnilicka (20, 17;
record: 1-2-1). A:12,109. Referees: P Devorski, Martell. Linesmen: D
Mccourt, Nelson.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Ottawa Atlanta
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Arvedson 0 0 +1 1 Audette 0 0 even 2
Bonk 1 1 +1 1 Brunette 0 0 even 3
Dackell 0 0 -1 2 Burt 0 1 +1 2
Emmons 0 0 even 0 Domenichelli 0 0 -1 1
Forbes 0 0 even 0 Donovan 0 1 +1 2
Havlat 0 1 even 3 Ferraro 1 0 even 4
Hnidy 0 0 +1 0 Guolla 1 0 +1 2
Hossa 1 0 +1 4 Harlock 0 0 -1 1
Kravchuk 0 0 +1 0 Kaberle 0 0 +2 0
Mceachern 0 0 -1 0 Kallio 0 1 +1 1
Oliver 0 0 even 0 Karlsson 0 0 even 1
Rachunek 0 0 -1 1 Lambert 0 0 even 0
Redden 0 1 even 2 Odgers 0 0 even 2
Salo 0 0 -1 2 S Staios 0 0 -1 5
V Prospal 0 2 even 0 Stefan 0 0 -1 3
Yashin 0 0 -1 1 Sylvester 0 0 -1 2
York 0 0 even 1 Tamer 0 0 -1 0
Zamuner 1 0 even 2 Tremblay 0 0 even 2
Phillips Back Injury Rhodes Groin
Roy Back Injury Vyshedkevich Chest Injury
Svartvadet Healthy
Game Story
ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Marian Hossa scored off a give-and-go with
2:06 remaining and rookie Jani Hurme made 31 saves as the Ottawa
Senators pushed their unbeaten streak to four games with a 3-2
victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.
Ottawa is 3-0-1-0 in its last four games and leads the Eastern
Conference with 22 points. The Senators improved to 5-1-1-0 on
the road this season and 5-0-1-0 all-time against the Thrashers.
"Teams are going to get fired up for us," Ottawa coach Jacques
Martin said. "We come in, they look at the standings, they're
fired up to play. That's why Hurme tonight was so outstanding.
He played extremely well."
The Senators extended their streak despite not playing well over
the last three games. They had a poor defensive showing in
Thursday's 6-5 victory over the New York Rangers before rallying
for a disappointing 2-2 tie against expansion Columbus two
nights later.
Tonight's game appeared headed for overtime until Ottawa began
to work the puck into the Atlanta zone with just over two
minutes remaining. Hossa had possession on the right side and
fed Radek Bonk along the end boards before one-timing the return
feed from the slot past rookie goaltender Milan Hnilicka for his
seventh goal of the season.
"It was a nice give-and-go," Hossa said. "What can I say? It
just works perfectly for me and him."
Hossa is leading the league with a plus-16 rating while
linemates Bonk and Magnus Arvedson are tied for third at
plus-14. Arvedson returned after missing one game with a
buttocks injury.
"There was a lot of grabbing and holding going, so I told Radek
and Magnus, `We have to shoot the puck and go to the net on the
rebound,'" Hossa said. "Finally, I got away from the guy and saw
the puck coming to me, and I put it in the net."
Atlanta pulled Hnilicka in the final minute but could not get
the puck out of its own zone, even icing it with 30 seconds to
play.
"For 58 minutes, we controlled the game," Thrashers coach Curt
Fraser said. "Our guys did a great job. We had one, well, two
bad breakdowns. We had more than enough opportunities in the
end to find a way to win. We just couldn't finish."
The Thrashers had an apparent goal disallowed early in the third
period. Ray Ferraro hit the goalpost with a short backhander,
but the net was dislodged seconds before Andrew Brunette put in
the puck.
Bonk scored a power-play goal and Rob Zamuner added his eighth
of the season as the Senators started a four-game road trip on a
positive note.
"We turned it on in the third and took the game," Martin said.
"You can't always do that. There's parity in the leauge. It's
a battle every night."
Atlanta got goals from Steve Guolla and Ferraro and 17 saves
from Hnilicka but fell to 2-2-3-0 in its last seven games. The
Thrashers are the only NHL team without a victory at home
(0-4-2-0).
"Tonight, we were supposed to win and we didn't," Hnilicka said.
"We really played great out there, but in some of those games it
happens. That's hockey. We have to remember the way we played
and forget that we lost and just keep on going the same way next
game."
Hnilicka, who recorded his first NHL win on Saturday, is filling
in for the injured Damian Rhodes, who is out two to three weeks
with a strained left groin. Hurme is in for Patrick Lalime, who
has a sprained left MCL.
The Thrashers held a 12-0 advantage in shots through the first
11 1/2 minutes and took the lead at 9:18 on Guolla's tally.
Rookie Tomi Kallio had the puck behind the net and fed Dean
Sylvester in front. Hurme stopped Sylvesterm but Guolla poked
in the rebound for his third goal of the season.
Ottawa called timeout following the goal, and the plan seemed to
work.
Just over two minutes later, the Senators produced their first
shot during a power play when defenseman Wade Redden had his
blast from the left point stopped by Hnilicka. But Bonk was
there to flip home the rebound for his sixth tally.
"It was a wakeup call for us," Hurme said. "I think it was a
good move for the coach and we became pretty sharp after that."
The Senators took their first lead 88 seconds later, thanks to a
nice individual effort by rookie Martin Havlat. Havlat took a
drop pass in the slot and deked defenseman David Harlock at the
right side before sliding a backhanded pass to Zamuner, who shot
it into the left side of the net.
"I told myself, `That's it,'" Hnilicka said. "I wanted to shut
the door the rest of the game, and it pretty much worked until
the end. We were supposed to win, but unfortunately they scored
those goals."
Hnilicka tried to live up to his words early in the third period
by stopping Arvedson on a shorthanded breakaway. He kept the
puck out of the net even as Arvedson and a Thrashers defender
crashed into him.