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Hot-handed Senators visit Kovlachuk, Thrashers

Dec 20, 2007 - 1:17 PM Ottawa (22-7-3) at Atlanta (15-17-1) 7:00 pm EST

ATLANTA (Ticker) - The sudden turnaround by goaltender Martin Gerber and a slew of offensive options have the Ottawa Senators streaking again.

Gerber and the Senators aim for a seventh straight win when they visit Ilya Kovalchuk and the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday.

Gerber went 0-2-1 with a 5.95 goals-against average during the Senators seven-game skid from November 22 - December 4. It appeared he had lost the starting when Ray Emery returned to the lineup and won three straight starts. But Emery has been out since suffering a hip injury on December 12.

Gerber is 3-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA in his last four starts and is once again looking like a No. 1 goaltender.

Along with the solid play of Gerber, Ottawa's 112 goals is tops in the Eastern Conference and only Detroit (122) has scored more this season.

The Senators' top line of Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and former Thrasher Dany Heatley has combined for 49 goals and 77 assists. Spezza scored twice and Gerber stopped 26 shots in a 3-2 win over Boston on Tuesday.

The Thrashers are led by Kovalchuk, who leads the league with 27 goals. He's had past success against Ottawa, with 18 goals and nine assists in 22 career games.

Atlanta snapped a four-game skid on Tuesday with a 6-2 win over Tampa Bay. First period tallies from newcomer Mark Recchi, Slava Kozlov and Garnet Exelby highlighted the win.