Buffalo, NY (Sports Network) - Slava Kozlov scored the lone goal in the
shootout to lead the Atlanta Thrashers to a 5-4 victory over the Sabres,
ending Buffalo's 10-game winning streak to start the season.
After Daniel Briere missed the net on Buffalo's first chance, Kozlov beat Ryan
Miller with a wrist shot over the stick.
Maxim Afinogenov went from the backhand to the forehand, but Kari Lehtonen
made a right pad save. Marian Hossa had a chance to seal the victory, but
Miller made a right pad save on the wrist shot.
Thomas Vanek had the last opportunity for the Sabres, but his shot bounced off
the top crossbar.
Bobby Holik and Scott Mellanby each had a goal and an assist and Lehtonen
stopped 32 shots plus all three skaters in the shootout for the Thrashers, who
stopped a small two-game slide.
Jason Pominville had a goal and two assists and Miller made 32 saves for the
Sabres, who had won their first 10 games to start the season.
Buffalo, which had a 15-game winning streak dating back to last season, tied
the 1993-94 Toronto Maple Leafs as the only clubs to post 10-straight
victories to start the season.
The Thrashers took a 1-0 lead when Jim Slater fought off two checkers behind
the net and centered the puck to Holik, who took a stride to the right and
slid the puck past an outstretched Miller at the 5:29 mark of the first.
Buffalo, though, put tremendous pressure on the Atlanta defense and tied the
game with a goal from Briere. After an Atlanta turnover in the zone, Buffalo
put several shots on net that Lehtonen turned aside. Atlanta had a chance to
clear the puck, but Pominville kept it in and flicked a shot on net. Lehtonen
made the save, but Briere was there to poke in the rebound with 10:15 left in
the first.
Atlanta, however, took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. A turnover by
Buffalo in the offensive zone was picked up by Holik and the Czech skated down
the ice. He drew the Buffalo defense towards him and hit Mellanby all alone in
the slot. Mellanby slid a shot on the ice that beat Miller past the right pad
less than a minute after the Buffalo goal.
Lehtonen kept the Sabres off the board early in the second when he made a save
on a Derek Roy wrist shot and used the left leg to hold off Afinogenov's
follow-up rebound attempt about six minutes into the second.
The Sabres tied the game thanks to good work in the offensive zone on the
power play. The puck was passed around several time till Roy had it at the
right circle. Roy fed it down low to Afinogenov, who immediately sent it back
to Roy. A one-timer by Roy was stopped by Lehtonen, but Vanek was there to
bang the rebound into the open net with 5:57 to play in the second.
Atlanta, though, took a 3-2 lead into the third when a shot by Andy Sutton
bounced off the back boards, popped out to the right side and Niko Kapanen
banged it in with a little over four minutes to left.
The Sabres tied the game early in the third. Teppo Numminen fired a shot from
the right point that Lehtonen made a save on. The rebound went out front and
Briere took a whack at it and again Lehtonen made the save, but Pominville was
there and slid the disc under the pad of Lehtonen at the 2:23 mark.
The Thrashers, though, took the lead when Mellanby threw the puck from behind
the net to Ilya Kovalchuk at the right point. Kovalchuk skated into the slot
and snapped a wrister into the right corner of the net at the 3:38 of the
third.
Buffalo put consistent pressure on the Atlanta defense and it paid off as they
tied the game with 1:44 to play. Pominville blasted the puck from the right
point and Lehtonen made the save, but the rebound went right out front Jochen
Hecht backhanded the rebound in from the slot for his second goal of the year.
