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Hossa's natural hat trick lifts Thrashers

Jan 16, 2008 - 4:40 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Marian Hossa made quite the hit in Motown.

Hossa recorded a natural hat trick by scoring the game's first three goals to propel the Atlanta Thrashers to a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

Hossa scored twice in the first period and again just 74 seconds into the second period to post his seventh career hat trick.

"It's great to get three goals and help the team, but also help with the self-confidence," said Hossa, who has seven goals in his last 13 games.

Eric Perrin and Vyacheslav Kozlov also scored goals and goaltender Kari Lehtonen made 46 saves for Atlanta, which handed Detroit its third consecutive loss.

"They just showed they never give up," Lehtonen said of the Red Wings' aggressive play. "I'm sure some teams would be done after a 4-0 lead, but they kept coming and coming and I was very lucky to be able to keep the score the way it was."

Detroit coach Mike Babcock credited Lehtonen for his play, but was far from thrilled by his team's effort.

"He's a real good goalie and they played real well," Babcock said, "but they were better than us, I guess, early and they scored on their opportunities and we weren't able to score on ours. I thought as the puck went in, I think they pressed a little bit and were able to get more."

Hossa opened the scoring 7:33 into the first period.

Stationed in the corner, the 29-year-old skated in front of the net before wristing a shot past All-Star goaltender Chris Osgood for a power-play goal.

"Weird things are happening around our net - and nothing's happening for us around their net," Osgood said. "It happens."

Hossa doubled Atlanta's advantage and recorded his fourth multi-goal game of the season nearly seven minutes later.

The Slovakian stole the puck from defenseman Brett Lebda at center ice, skated in and, while fending off the backchecking blue-liner, beat Osgood with a backhander for his 18th goal of the season.

Hossa completed the hat trick 74 seconds into the middle session.

Todd White skated into the offensive zone, drawing the attention of two Detroit defenders. White alertly fed Hossa, who fired a shot from the slot over Osgood's shoulder for his 19th goal of the season.

"Our penalty kill wasn't aggressive at all," Detroit defenseman Niklas Lidstrom said. "It was too tentative, and when you're hesitating even a little bit, good players are going to make plays - and that's what they did, too.

"We played OK 5-on-5, but the specialty teams, that's what lost us the game tonight."

Perrin scored his eighth goal of the season over six minutes later, earning Osgood an early exit from the contest. He finished with 13 saves.

Dominik Hasek replaced him and stopped seven shots.

"I went to him after the first (goal) and (Hasek) wasn't ready," Babcock said. "So he had ample warning. I went to him after three and he wasn't ready, so he had ample warning in time to get ready.

"We gave him the opportunity to get ready, to get stretched, so it wasn't like a sudden thing."