PITTSBURGH - Ramzi Abid scored on a two-on-one break with 3:43 remaining and the Penguins rallied twice to beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 Monday night before their smallest home crowd in nearly eight years.
The turnout of 9,576 was the worst since 7,170 braved a snowstorm Dec. 19, 1995, to watch Pittsburgh play Calgary.
Penguins attendance is down more than 3,000 per game from last season, causing the team to announce earlier in the day that owner-player Mario Lemieux had turned down the $5-million raise offered him by the team's board. As Atlanta defenseman Chris Tamer tried to control the puck while on his knees along the left wing boards, Aleksey Morozov skated past, grabbed it and found Abid breaking in from the opposite wing for his second goal.
Penguins rookie goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots and held Atlanta scoreless for the final 33 minutes as Pittsburgh won for the third time in 13 games.
Pittsburgh announced earlier that it will be without leading scorer Rico Fata for up to seven games because of a sprained knee.
SENATORS 4, FLYERS 1: Martin Havlat scored twice to help host Ottawa end Philadelphia's 12-game unbeaten streak. Philadelphia, 10-0-2 in November, remained a point ahead of Vancouver in the overall standings.
Havlat opened the scoring early in the second period, the first time the Senators have scored the first goal in a game since Nov. 3. He made it 2-0 late in the period with a power-play goal.
The Flyers, who have lost three times in regulation, hadn't been defeated since a 3-2 loss in New Jersey on Oct. 30.
Ottawa improved to 3-4-0-2 in its past nine games.
