Thrashers 6, Senators 1

ATLANTA - Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists, and the Atlanta Thrashers dumped the Ottawa Senators 6-1 on Tuesday night for their first regulation victory in 21 games.

The Thrashers, who had lost 11 of their previous 12, were coming off an embarrassing 8-1 home loss to Southeast Division rival Washington on Saturday.

Atlanta goaltender Ondrej Pavelec made 30 saves and the Thrashers held Ottawa to 0-for-3 on power plays. The Senators' NHL-worst power play percentage dipped to 14.0.

Already without captain Daniel Alfredsson, who's recovering from a separated shoulder, the Senators played their second straight game without defenceman Filip Kuba (upper body) and third straight without Milan Michalek (upper body). Centres Jason Spezza (knee) and Jesse Winchester (knee) are out indefinitely.

The Thrashers scored the go-ahead goal on defenceman Pavel Kubina's slap shot 17:08 into the first, following Peter Regin's tying goal at the 7:29 mark of the first period.

Kovalchuk made it 3-1 with a wrister at 18:31 that gave him 17 points in his last 20 games.

Eric Boulton's tip-in made it 1-0 on the power play 3:36 into the first.

Todd White scored his first goal in 35 games to give the Thrashers a 4-1 lead early in the second.

Tobias Enstrom put the Thrashers up 5-1 with a wrister from the left circle 9:43 into the second. Kovalchuk, after controlling his own rebound, passed from behind the net for Enstrom's fourth goal.

Bryan Little made it 6-1 early in the third, scoring on a breakaway for his sixth goal.

NOTES: Atlanta defenseman Christoph Schubert's night ended midway through the first with a game misconduct and a major boarding penalty against Ottawa F Jonathan Cheechoo ... The Thrashers last scored three first-period goals on Dec. 19, but lost 5-4 despite chasing New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur before the second ... The Senators make the middle stop of their five-game road trip on Thursday when they visit Madison Square Garden in New York to face the Rangers (7 p.m., Rogers Sportsnet, Team 1200).