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Kozlov's two goals lead Thrashers past Senators

Jan 2, 2007 - 12:47 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Slava Kozlov's hustle kept the Atlanta Thrashers on their hot streak.

Kozlov scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, to give the Thrashers a 3-2 triumph over the Ottawa Senators.

The hustling Kozlov grabbed the puck on a breakaway at center ice and squeezed a shot between goaltender Ray Emery's pads 1:48 into the extra session, giving Atlanta its sixth win in seven games.

"I saw Hossa get the puck in our zone and I was the last guy out of their zone," Kozlov said. "I tried to stay behind the defenseman and Hossa put up the puck by chipping it off the boards. The puck hit (Joe) Corvo's skate and it was a race for the puck. I was first on the puck because I was right behind it, so I was a little bit lucky. It's nice to have a win on the first day of the new year."

Kari Lehtonen did not face a shot in overtime and made 33 saves for Atlanta, which was 1-for-3 on the power play.

"It was a very tight game and both teams got equal scoring chances," Lehtonen said. "Our defensemen helped me out a lot on several occasions."

"It's a big win for us," Thrashers coach Bob Hartley said. "It's never easy to come and play in this rink, especially after the game in Buffalo the other night. We wanted to make sure we'd get back on the winning track."

Kozlov's first goal of the game put the Thrashers ahead, 2-1, as he took a rebound and snapped the puck past the stick side of Emery with 8:44 left in the second period.

Defenseman Tom Preissing tied it, 2-2, on a slap shot which went underneath teammate Chris Neil's legs. Lehtonen never saw the puck as it went into the left corner of the net.

"(Peter) Schaefer made a nice pass back to me", Preissing said. "My first thought was to pass to Corvo who had a one-timer available, but then I decided to walk to the middle. As I was winding up, their forward was going down, so I had to get the puck up. We had a good screen in front of the net and I'm pretty sure the goalie never saw it."

Emery stopped 26 shots for the Senators, who were 2-for-4 on the power play.

"They had a good game," Emery said. "We outplayed them for the most part, but that's how it goes. Sometimes, it was a funny game with funny calls and different plays, but there's a lot of positive things for us especially with the short lineup that we had."

Marian Hossa had three assists against his former team, giving 55 on the season and putting three behind league-leader Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh.

"There is definitely a bit more motivation for me when playing here," Hossa said. "Obviously, I was here quite a while, so against a former team you've got a little bit of a job ahead of you."