Thrashers’ Slump Comes to an End

The Atlanta Thrashers ended their scoring slump in a big way.

Marc Savard had the biggest game of his career with a goal and four assists, and Ilya Kovalchuk snapped out of an eight-game goal drought with two goals and three assists as the Thrashers overwhelmed the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-4, Saturday night at Pittsburgh.

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 to send the Thrashers to their first victory since beating Pittsburgh, 6-3, on Dec. 12.

“Even when we lose three games and don’t score, Bob [Coach Bob Hartley] tells us we’re still the same team, just keep going, work hard and make things happen,” Thrasher captain Shawn McEachern said. “Our power play was really going.”

Kovalchuk, who matched his career high for points in a game, tied Columbus’ Rick Nash for the NHL goal-scoring lead with 20.

Minnesota 5, Columbus 2 -- Wes Walz scored two goals at St. Paul, Minn., and the Wild ran its unbeaten streak to five games.

Columbus remained the only NHL team without a road win, falling to 0-11-1-2 away from Ohio.

St. Louis 1, Phoenix 1 -- Chris Osgood stopped 24 shots for the Blues at St. Louis, and Sean Burke of the Coyotes made 30 saves.

The Blues (20-6-3-1) are undefeated in December at 7-0-2. Two of their losses this season have come to Phoenix.

Vancouver 3, Edmonton 0 -- Dan Cloutier stopped 24 shots at Edmonton, Canada, for his first shutout of the season.

Edmonton has won once in its last eight home games and has managed only two victories in 14 games overall.

Nashville 1, Detroit 0 -- Dan Hamhuis scored at 8:33 of the third period, and Tomas Vokoun stopped 21 shots at Nashville as the Predators ended a five-game winless skid.

Dallas 2, Tampa Bay 1 -- Mike Modano scored his first goal in 12 games, and Marty Turco made 26 saves for the Stars at Tampa, Fla.

Toronto 4, Montreal 2 -- Mats Sundin scored the go-ahead goal with 29 seconds left at Toronto, and the Maple Leafs extended their franchise-record point streak to 14 games. Sundin’s shot deflected in off a Canadien defenseman.

Ottawa 3, New York Rangers 1 -- Curtis Leschyshyn, Peter Schaefer and Jason Spezza scored for the Senators, who scored three goals in a row after falling behind 1-0 at Ottawa.

Carolina 2, Boston 1 -- Radim Vrbata and Eric Staal scored goals, and Kevin Weekes made 37 saves at Boston to lead the Hurricanes to their second consecutive victory under new Coach Peter Laviolette.

Philadelphia 3, New York Islanders 1 -- Jim Vandermeer had his first two-goal game in the NHL, and Robert Esche made 18 saves at Philadelphia in his return from injury.

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Mike Comrie signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. Comrie was traded to the Flyers by the Oilers on Tuesday because of a contract dispute that left the restricted free agent looking for a new place to play.