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Senators look to continue red-hot start against Thrashers

Oct 10, 2007 - 1:50 PM Ottawa (4-0-0) at Atlanta (0-2-0) 7:00 pm EDT

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The Ottawa Senators will look to pick up their fifth straight victory to start the season when they visit the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday.

It will be the ninth meeting between the teams since the Thrashers sent Dany Heatley to the Senators for Marian Hossa. The trade has benefited both teams.

The 26-year-old Heatley has put together back-to-back 50-goal seasons, accumulating 103 points in 2005-06 campaign and 105 last season. The German-born right wing has tallied four goals and three assists in four contests this season.

Hossa's game has been elevated since coming to Atlanta. Playing on a line with Ilya Kovalchuk has really helped Hossa as the 28-year-old Slovakian has registered 192 points over the previous two campaigns.

The right wing collected a career-high 100 points in 2006-07. A first-round selection in the 1997, Hossa has managed just one goal this season for the struggling Thrashers.

Martin Gerber has been phenomenal in net for the Senators while Ray Emery recovers from offseason surgery on his left wrist.

Gerber, who was relegated to the bench after a shaky start last season, is 14-0-2 with a 2.02 goals-against average since December 23, 2006.

Dating to last season's playoffs, Atlanta has lost six straight contests. The Thrashers have been outscored, 8-3, in their first two games this season.

Vyacheslav Kozlov enjoyed a lot of success against the Senators last season, scoring seven goals - including three game winners - and setting up another in four contests against their Eastern Conference foes.