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Hossa, Kozlov star as Thrashers top Avalanche

Feb 9, 2007 - 7:15 AM DENVER (Ticker) -- Marian Hossa broke out of his slump to help the Atlanta Thrashers get their road trip off to a good start.

Hossa scored two goals and set up two others to lead the Thrashers to a 6-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in the opener of a six-game road trip.

Vyacheslav Kozlov also recorded two goals and a pair of assists and Kari Lehtonen made a season-high 45 saves for the Thrashers, who improved to 2-3-1 in their last six games.

"It's a good win," Atlanta coach Bob Hartley said. "We got the start that we wanted. We knew that they would keep coming."

"It's the greatest feeling when you feel good and get lots of saves and you get some lucky bounces," Lehtonen said. "I think 48 (shots faced) is maybe too much in the long run, but today it was a good amount and we were able to get the win. What a great start for the road trip."

The Avalanche finished their five-game homestand at 2-3-0 and are 2-4-1 in their last seven overall.

"This homestand, the starts were unacceptable," Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said. "We stressed it and mentioned it going into the game, and we got behind."

After Brad Larsen, Kozlov and defenseman Garnet Exelby staked Atlanta to a 3-0 lead after one period, Hossa ended a five-game drought 8 1/2 minutes into the second, beating goaltender Peter Budaj from close range for his 32nd of the season.

"When I got the puck on the far side, it was pretty open, so I tried to use anything they would give me," Hossa said.

"The game was over in the first period," said Kozlov, whose goal halted a 14-game drought. "In the end, it looked like a close game, but I think we dominated until the third period."

Budaj began the second period in relief of former Hart and Vezina Trophy winner Jose Theodore, who yielded three goals on just 11 shots.

"They're a skilled team," Theodore said. "Every mistake, it seems they made us pay the price. It was shots from inside and picking the corners. They're a skilled team and they're going to make us pay the price. That's pretty much what they did."

"We changed goalies just to wake our team up," Quenneville said. "I wasn't pleased with how we played. It wasn't the goalie's fault."

Hossa capped his ninth multi-goal effort of the campaign with an empty-net tally at 18:05 of the third period. The second goal tied him with fellow All-Star Alex Ovechkin of Washington for second in the league. Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier leads the NHL 34 tallies.

"It was huge for us because we didn't expect to get a quick lead like that against a good team like this," Hossa said. "Everybody chipped in really well and we are pleased with how we played."

Kozlov scored his second of the game with 2:13 to go in the second, beating Budaj to the short side from the bottom of the right faceoff circle for a 5-1 cushion.

"Hossa made some great passes and I just put it in," Kozlov said.

Captain Scott Mellanby and defenseman Greg de Vries each had two assists for Atlanta, which halted a three-game skid.

Ian Laperriere, rookie Paul Stastny and defenseman Jordan Leopold scored for the Avalanche, who have lost five of their last seven games.

Atlanta left wing Ilya Kovalchuk, who entered with eight goals in his previous seven games, was held to an assist.

Colorado's Karlis Skrastins played in his 487th straight game to set the NHL record for most consecutive games played by a defenseman. Hall of Famer Tim Horton set the previous mark from February 11, 1961-February 4, 1968 while with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"It was a big game for me," Skrastins said. "It was my biggest game in my life. It was a very emotional game. It's a game I'm going to remember for all of my life."

Skrastins' streak, which began on February 18, 2000, is the longest active run in the NHL.