Atlanta Thrashers 2, Ottawa Senators 5 FINAL

OTTAWA (AP) -- Marian Hossa managed to score despite failing to get a shot on an empty-net breakaway.

Hossa was awarded his second goal of the game with 43 seconds left in the third after Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk threw his stick, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 5-2 victory Sunday over the Thrashers.

Hossa, who scored early in the third period, was awarded a power-play goal at the 19:17 mark when Kovalchuk flung his stick and knocked the puck off Hossa's stick into the left corner with Atlanta goalie Pasi Nurminen on the bench for an extra attacker.

"When I was going on the empty net, I was going to go all the way because there was nobody close," Hossa said. "I was going to shoot and all of a sudden I saw a stick interfering with the puck, and I knew right away it was an automatic goal."

Thrashers coach Bob Hartley acknowledged that the referees were correct in awarding the goal (under rule 88.a).

"That's the rule. That was the right call," Hartley said. "He tried. It was worth what it was worth."

Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, who last saw a similar play in his native Sweden, said the Russian star acted out of frustration rather than desperation.

"(Kovalchuk) didn't get a lot of room at all," said Alfredsson, who had a goal and an assist. "He worked hard and he tried, and I think our defense and forwards did a good job of shutting him down. That play was just frustration. He's a really good player. I thought he tried really hard but we got the better of him."

The rare infraction was officially recorded as an unassisted goal, wiping out potential assists for Wade Redden and Bryan Smolinski, who set up earlier goals.

"I just feel sorry for those two guys because they didn't get the helpers," Hossa said. "That was a weird play."

Defensemen Karel Rachunek and Chris Phillips also scored, and Peter Schaefer had two assists, helping the Senators extend their season-high unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2).

Ronald Petrovicky and Patrik Stefan scored for Atlanta, which had its three-game winning streak stopped.

"They're a great defensive team," Petrovicky said. "They have big guys on defense and they don't allow a lot of shots."

The Thrashers are winless in their last seven games (0-6-1) against Ottawa, which has outscored Atlanta 16-8 overall while winning all three meetings this season.

Rachunek opened the scoring 15:01 in with his first goal of the season. The Czech defenseman received a cross-ice pass from Peter Schaefer and took a sharp-angle shot that deflected off Atlanta defenseman Garnet Exelby's stick and beat goalie Pasi Nurminen through the legs.

Phillips, who hadn't scored since the season opener Oct. 9, put the Senators up by two 7:23 into the second, beating Nurminen with a shot through traffic for his second of the season -- his first in 34 games.

Alfredsson made it 3-0 at 12:47 when he scored on the last of a flurry of Ottawa shots after Nurminen turned over the puck on a failed clearing attempt along the left boards.

Petrovicky scored with 48.7 seconds left in the period, beating Lalime for his 11th of the season just six seconds after exiting the penalty box after serving an minor penalty for elbowing.

Hossa made it 4-1 when he scored 1:43 into the third.

Stefan got a power-play goal at 5:43 for his sixth goal of the season.