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Kozlov, Hossa tally in shootout as Thrashers top Penguins

Dec 22, 2006 - 5:13 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Despite superstar Sidney Crosby's heroics, the Atlanta Thrashers prevailed in a shootout.

Vyacheslav Kozlov and Marian Hossa tallied in the shootout and Ilya Kovalchuk added a goal and two assists as the Thrashers won their second straight game, a 4-3 triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Niko Kapanen added his fourth goal of the campaign for the Thrashers, who picked up the victory even though they failed to hold a two-goal lead in the third session.

"In the third period, we kind of sat back," Atlanta coach Bob Hartley said. "It's human nature to have a lead and instead of playing with the lead, you want to protect the lead. We saw that it doesn't work."

After Erik Christensen fired a shot off the left goalpost and Mark Recchi's rebound deflected off goaltender Kari Lehtonen, Crosby scored by batting the puck out of the air to tie the game with 15 seconds left in regulation.

Kozlov opened the shootout by beating netminder Jocelyn Thibault high to the glove side.

"I try to do something different every time (in the shootout), depending on how the goalie plays," Kozlov said.

After Christensen was stopped by Lehtonen, Hossa added another tally in the second round. Crosby then was turned away by Lehtonen as he tried to slip the puck under the pads, sealing the Thrashers' victory.

"I waited for Crosby's move and I waited pretty well and I was right there," Lehtonen said. "I am not sure if he lost it on the shot."

"Once again, Kari was huge in the shootout," Hartley said. "Hossa and Kozlov worked their magic. I don't think Kozlov recognizes how good of a shooter he is. I would like to see him shoot much more during games. The guy has a quick release and is accurate."

Kovalchuk assisted on Kapanen's goal at the 1:36 mark of the first period to open the scoring. He also tallied at 6:32 of the second session to make it 2-0.

"I think (Thibault) played pretty well," Kovalchuk said. "He made a couple of good saves, but our power play finally started working and that's why we walked away excited."

Jordan Staal scored a shorthanded goal in the second period for Pittsburgh, which has lost three straight contests.

"I thought we played a pretty good game and deserve better," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "I thought we played hard and worked hard. The attention was there and we never quit. It was a good game."