Kovalchuk, Kozlov score shootout goals to pace Thrashers in win over Sabres

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Game Information

Arena: Philips Arena Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Referees: Brian Pochmara, Rob Shick Linesmen: Pierre Racicot, Lyle Seitz

Attendance: 14,091 (76.0% full)

Team Stat Comparison
242	Goals	250
229	Goals Against	279
75	Power Play Goals	69
61	Power Play Goals Allowed	88
7	Shorthanded Goals	13
5	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	10
1121	Penalty Minutes	1256
14	Average Penalty Minutes	15

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD			BUF	ATL
1:35		Ilya Kovalchuk Assists: Todd White	0	1
17:12		Bryan Little Assists: Todd White	0	2
2ND PERIOD			BUF	ATL
17:00		Thomas Vanek (Power Play) Assists: Jason Pominville, Ales Kotalik	1	2
3RD PERIOD			BUF	ATL
16:52		Jason Pominville Unassisted	2	2
OT			BUF	ATL
No scoring this period			2	2
Shootout Summary
	Erik Christensen shootout attempt against Patrick Lalime with a Wristshot results in a SAVE.
	Ales Kotalik shootout attempt against Kari Lehtonen with a Snapshot results in a SAVE.
	Ilya Kovalchuk shootout attempt against Patrick Lalime with a Snapshot results in a GOAL.
	Drew Stafford shootout attempt against Kari Lehtonen with a Wristshot results in a GOAL.
	Slava Kozlov shootout attempt against Patrick Lalime with a Snapshot results in a GOAL.
	Thomas Vanek shootout attempt against Kari Lehtonen with a Wide of Net results in a MISS.

ATLANTA -- Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen will take the win even though he still doesn't like shootouts.

Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov scored shootout goals for Atlanta, which beat Buffalo 3-2 on Saturday night and handed the Sabres their first loss of the season.

Kovalchuk, Atlanta's second shooter in the tiebreaker, beat Patrick Lalime for the first goal. Buffalo tied it with its second skater, Ales Kotalik, who scored on Lehtonen.

Fast Facts

• Atlanta came out firing, outshooting Buffalo 19-6 in the first period.

• The Thrashers continued their struggles on the power play, going 0-for-6 against the Sabres and falling to 3-for-29 on the power play this season.

• Thomas Vanek scored his seventh goal of the season -- on a power play -- and has scored a goal in every game this season.

-- ESPN research

Kozlov gave the Thrashers the lead, and they finished off the victory when Buffalo leading scorer Thomas Vanek shot wide.

"It was pretty exciting. Nice to get the two points," Lehtonen said. "Those [shootouts] are not so much fun for goalies."

The one thing he appreciated was the break between overtime and the shootout.

"It's good we have two minutes to regroup," Lehtonen said.

The Thrashers snapped a three-game losing streak, and the Sabres fell to 4-0-1.

Buffalo's Jason Pominville scored with 3:08 remaining in the third period to tie it at 2, knocking in his own rebound.

"Somebody on their team turned the puck over and I got in the slot and made a pretty good shot," Pominville said. "I didn't like our start, but as the game went on, it got better."

Pominville's second of the season came after his initial shot bounced high off Lehtonen's glove and back to him.

"I was disappointed for giving up the tying goal just before overtime," Lehtonen said.

The Thrashers got off to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Kovalchuk and Bryan Little.

Kovalchuk, a 52-goal scorer last season, netted his second of the season after only 1:35 elapsed. He scored with a hard shot over Lalime's left shoulder.

Little, who leads the Thrashers with four goals, made it 2-0 at 17:12 with another shot over Lalime's left shoulder from about 10 feet out. Todd White assisted on both goals.

"We expected Atlanta to come out hard," Lalime said. "I like how we came back in the second and third. It would have been nice to get the extra point."

Vanek got the Sabres within 2-1 during a two-man advantage with three minutes left in the second period.

Vanek is off to the quickest start of his career, scoring seven goals in Buffalo's first five games. Kotalik and Pominville earned assists.

Game notes
The Thrashers scratched D Nathan Oystrick and LW Brett Sterling. Buffalo's scratches were C Tim Connolly, D Nathan Paetsch and C Jochen Hecht. ... The Thrashers outshot the Sabres 19-6 in the opening period. ... Buffalo came into the game 18-for-18 on penalty killing and made it 24-for-24 with six stops against Atlanta. The Thrashers, meanwhile, have gone 21 straight power plays without a goal.