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Kozlov helps Thrashers avoid disaster

Dec 6, 2007 - 4:58 AM By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The offensively challenged New York Islanders finally scored more than two goals. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't get a single one in the shootout.

Vyacheslav Kozlov and Ilya Kovalchuk tallied in the bonus format as the Atlanta Thrashers skated to a 4-3 victory over the Islanders on Wednesday.

After rallying from a two-goal deficit to tie the game, New York was unable to ride the momentum to victory. It failed to cash in on a power play late in the third and could not tally in overtime, forcing the game to the shootout.

Neither team broke through in the first round, but Kozlov avoided a poke-check by Rick DiPietro on Atlanta's second attempt and lifted the puck over the sprawled goaltender to give the Thrashers the edge.

"It's a huge two points," Atlanta's Marian Hossa said. "When you look at the standings, it's very tight."

DiPietro protested the goal, claiming Kozlov had skated backward prior to beating him with the shot, a move that is illegal.

"I thought he had skated backwards with the puck," DiPietro said. "I guess I was wrong. It looked like he took a step back, but I am not sure of the rule. They made the call, it stood and you move on."

Kari Lehtonen denied Miroslav Satan on the Islanders' second chance, and Kovalchuk sealed the win, firing the puck between DiPietro's pads in the third round.

"It's nice to have guys like Kovy and Kozlov in the shootout," Lehtonen said. "(Backup goaltender Johan) Hedberg helped me out a lot before the shootout. He told me where the guys might shoot, and that helped a lot. He knows a lot on the shooters."

The Islanders were rolling, holding a 1-0 lead and on the power play for nearly three minutes after Pascal Dupuis and defenseman Ken Klee were whistled for consecutive penalties in the second period.

But the Islanders, who had not scored more than two goals since a 3-2 triumph over the New York Rangers on November 6, could not convert on the power play and soon saw their lead disappear thanks to a pair of shorthanded tallies by the Thrashers.

Hossa dug the puck out of the side of the Thrashers' net and fed Eric Perrin with a cross-ice pass. Perrin dished back to Hossa, who streaked across the blue line and lofted an odd-angle shot from the left faceoff circle that beat DiPietro at 7:06 to knot the game at 1-1.

As if once was not enough, the Islanders found a way to give up another shorthanded goal some eight minutes later, when Dupuis fired a shot from the slot over the right shoulder of DiPietro at 15:36.

"We'd rather not give up goals on our power play, but on an 82-game schedule, that's going to happen," DiPietro said. "We fought back, battled and got a point out of it."

The common thread on both goals was Perrin, who has notched an assist on all five of Atlanta's shorthanded tallies this season.

"You have great goal-scorers," Perrin said. "You find a way to get them the puck. They find a way to get to the net."

"Eric Perrin made a heck of a play on Dupuis' goal, and Hossa's," Thrashers interim coach Don Waddell said. "That's a goal-scorer's goal, and he knew where to put it so it went in the net."

It was the third time in franchise history Atlanta scored twice in a game while shorthanded. The Thrashers last tallied twice while down a skater on December 19, 2006 at New Jersey as Hossa posted two goals in a 4-3 shootout victory.

Ironically, the Thrashers were much better playing shorthanded than while on the power play. Atlanta squandered nine man-advantage opportunities, including a chance in the overtime session.

"It seemed like four guys (in a penalty-killing situation) worked better than 5-on-4," Hossa said. "It was good the penalty kill stepped up."

Nestled between the shorthanded tallies was Kovalchuk's league-leading 23rd of the season.

Mike Comrie got the Islanders on the board with his ninth goal midway through the first period. Lehtonen cleared the rebound of Chris Simon's shot into the slot but directly to Comrie, who glided backward to the inner edge of the right faceoff circle before beating the netminder with a wrister for a 1-0 lead.

Mike Sillinger got the Islanders to their offensive quota, firing a one-timer from the left point past Lehtonen with 19 seconds remaining in the second period to reduce the deficit to 3-2.

Trent Hunter tied the game with a slap shot from above the left circle, beating Lehtonen for a power-play goal as Josef Vasicek set a perfect screen with 12:28 remaining in the third. The tally snapped a 13-game streak in which the club had tallied two goals or fewer.

"This team is a strong-willed team," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said. "We are never disappointed in the effort. We just came up short tonight. If we hadn't given up those two shorthanded goals, you never know the result."

Lehtonen made 30 saves for the Thrashers, who had lost four of their previous five games.

DiPietro turned aside 21 shots for the Islanders, who have dropped four in a row.