Marc Savard had a goal and four assists and Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov each had two goals as the visiting Atlanta Thrashers broke out of their offensive slump in a 7-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Savard established a career high for points in a game. Kovalchuk added three assists while breaking out of an eight-game goal drought and tying Columbus’ Rick Nash for the NHL goal-scoring lead with 20. Kovalchuk’s five points also matched his career high.
The NHL’s second-highest scoring team had been shut out in a team record three consecutive games, but Ronald Petrovicky scored eight seconds after the opening faceoff and Atlanta added three more goals in the opening 30 minutes.
Savard, who assisted on the first three goals, scored his 15th of the season at 1:25 of the third. He has figured in on 10 of Atlanta’s 16 goals against Pittsburgh this season.
Kovalchuk sent a wrist shot from the edge of the circle past goaltender Sebastien Caron at 10:31 of the second for a 4-1 lead.
After goals by Milan Kraft and Martin Strbak 3:11 apart cut the margin to 4-3, Kovalchuk whipped a wrist shot past Caron from the right circle with 1:22 left in the second.
Maple Leafs make a point
Mats Sundin scored the go-ahead goal with 29 seconds left and the host Toronto Maple Leafs extended their franchise-record point streak to 14 games with a 4-2 victory over with Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Wade Belak scored Toronto’s tying goal in the third period, and Bryan McCabe added an empty-netter for the Maple Leafs, 12-0-1-1 during the streak.
Toronto hasn’t lost in regulation since Nov. 20 at Edmonton.
Belak scored his first goal of the season at 8:31 of the third period.
RESULTS, SATURDAY’S SYNOPSIS
Carolina 2 at Boston 1
Radim Vrbata and Eric Staal scored and Kevin Weekes made 37 saves to lead Carolina. The Hurricanes, ranked 27th in NHL on the power play, went 0-for-7 with the man advantage.
N.Y. Islanders 1 at Philadelphia 3
Jim Vandermeer had his first two-goal game, and Robert Esche made 18 saves in his return from injury to lead the Flyers, who snapped a season-worst five-game winless streak.
N.Y. Rangers 1 at Ottawa 3
Curtis Leschyshyn, Peter Schaefer and Jason Spezza scored for Senators. Rangers lost for the 6th time in last 9 games. Senators haven’t allowed a power-play goal in 6 straight games.
Montreal 2 at Toronto 4
Wade Belak and Montreal’s Darren Langdon traded punches in a lengthy bout in the first period. Mats Sundin’s goal was his 714th point as a Leaf, the fourth-most total in club history.
Atlanta 7 at Pittsburgh 4
Atlanta’s Serge Aubin fell into the right wing boards in 2nd period and left with concussion-like symptoms. Thrashers’ Tomas Kloucek left in the 1st period with a bruised right shoulder.
Dallas 2 at Tampa Bay 1
Mike Modano scored his first goal in 12 games and Marty Turco made 26 saves to help the Stars. Turco has allowed two goals or fewer in 12 of his last 14 games.
Phoenix 1 at St. Louis 1
Shane Doan scored short-handed goal 5:59 into the 1st period, and Pavol Demitra had power-play goal with 6:02 left in 2nd period. The Blues are undefeated in December at 7-0-2.
Columbus 2 at Minnesota 5
Wes Walz scored two goals and the Wild ran its unbeaten streak to five games. Columbus remained the only NHL team without a road victory, falling to 0-11-1-2.
Detroit 0 at Nashville 1
Dan Hamhuis scored at 8:33 of third period and Tomas Vokoun stopped 21 shots as Predators snapped a five-game winless skid. The Predators are 3-0 against the Red Wings this season.
Vancouver 3 at Edmonton 0
Dan Cloutier stopped 24 shots for his first shutout of the season. The Oilers have won once in their last eight home games and have managed just two victories in 14 games overall.
Colorado 3 at Los Angeles 3
Avalanche’s Joe Sakic scored 3 goals–2 on 1st-period power plays. Derek Morris tied the game at 3-3 at 4:26 into the 3rd period. Kings stretched home unbeaten streak to six.
