ATLANTA - Ilya Kovalchuk scored a hat trick and the Thrashers stretched their unbeaten streak to a franchise-record five games, routing the Blackhawks 7-2 Saturday night.
The Thrashers have won three and tied two. They led 3-0 before the game was 11 minutes old and knocked out goalie Jocelyn Thibault in the second period.
Marc Savard scored a goal and assisted on three others, while Slava Kozlov had two assists.
The frustrated Blackhawks had several cheap-shot penalties. Scott Nichol delivered a right cross to Tommi Santala. Then, Mark Bell chased down Kovalchuk, giving him a spear to the stomach and a cross-check in the back. Finally, Jason Strudwick ran over goalie Pasi Nurminen.
At one point, Chicago had five players in the penalty box - there wasn't room for them all to sit.
"If some of the guys would have shown the emotion they showed late in the game in the first period, we wouldn't have been in that situation," coach Brian Sutter said.
PENGUINS 4, RED WINGS 3: Rico Fata scored his second goal of the game with 8:29 left as host Pittsburgh rallied from two down.
Fata took a long cross-ice pass from Ryan Malone and beat Dominik Hasek with a wrist shot.
Fata, who also assisted on Ramzi Abid's power-play goal in the first period, scored his first short-handed goal in the second and had his first three-point game.
Martin Straka's goal off a pass from Konstantin Koltsov, 11 seconds into the third, tied it at 3.
Detroit had a go-ahead goal disallowed at 3:06 of the third period when video goal judge Dale Ruth ruled Mathieu Schneider kicked the puck into the net.
"There is no way I kicked that puck in," Schneider said.
MAPLE LEAFS 1, CANADIENS 0: Ed Belfour earned his 66th career shutout and Ric Jackman, who had a tooth knocked out, scored a power-play goal for visiting Toronto.
Belfour, who had back-to-back saves off shots by Michael Ryder and Andreas Dackell midway through the third, tied Patrick Roy for 11th on the career shutout list and leads all active goalies.
Montreal honored Hall of Famer Jean Beliveau on the 50th anniversary of his first contract.
HURRICANES 2, RANGERS 2: Erik Cole and Craig Adams each had a goal and an assist for visiting Carolina. The Hurricanes had more than a minute of power-play time in overtime and pressed the Rangers for nearly the entire five minutes. New York had a chance late in the extra period but Bobby Holik's shot was gloved by Kevin Weekes.
ISLANDERS 2, PANTHERS 1: Oleg Kvasha's power-play goal 4:10 into the third period lifted New York in its home opener. On the Islanders' fifth power-play attempt Kvasha got a cross-ice pass from Adrian Aucoin, and tapped the puck into the open left side past Roberto Luongo.
CANUCKS 2, WILD 2: Henrik Sedin slammed in a loose rebound on a power play with 1:32 left in regulation for visiting Vancouver. Antti Laaksonen's had a first-period penalty shot clank off the right post for the Wild, who had only eight shots after the second period. With 1:47 left in overtime the puck glanced off the skate of Vancouver's Brendan Morrison and into the net but it was ruled a kick.
BLUES 4, CAPITALS 1: Host St. Louis, which had been 3-for-17 on the power play, scored on three of its first five opportunities. Blue Defenseman Al MacInnis has a torn retina in his left eye for the second time in three years and could miss the rest of the season.
PREDATORS 3, BLUE JACKETS 2: Greg Johnson scored his first goal of the season and assisted on another for host Nashville.
U.S. HALL OF FAME: The 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minn.
All 20 members of the '80 Olympic team, known for its "Miracle on Ice" at the Lake Placid Games, were enshrined, along with the late Devils coach John Cunniff, former NHL stars Mark Howe and Pat LaFontaine; and University of Minnesota player Richard Dougherty.
"I thought we were already in the Hall of Fame," team captain Mike Eruzione said with a laugh. "What I found out as I called the rest of the guys, was that they all thought we were in already."
The team paid tribute to late coach Herb Brooks, who was killed in an auto accident in August.
