Senators Stop Thrashers

Despite scoring two goals, Marian Hossa wasn't pleased with his night.

Hossa, Ottawa's leading goal-scorer, scored twice and Shawn McEachern added a goal and two assists Sunday night, helping the Ottawa Senators to a 6-4 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.

"We didn't play a very good defensive game," said Hossa, one night after the Senators beat the Florida Panthers 5-0.

"It's hard to play against a new team," added Hossa, who had nine goals and 14 points for the season.

McEachern, who assisted on two of Ottawa's three first-period goals, scored his third goal of the season 2:20 into the second period, giving the Senators a 4-2 lead.

"It was just one of those games," said McEachern. "There will be times later on in the season, we'll be struggling to score so you take what you get."

Magnus Arvedson made it 5-2 only 2:19 later for Ottawa with his fourth goal before the Thrashers narrowed the margin to 5-3 on a goal by Darryl Shannon his second with 2:16 left in the second period.

The six goals by the Senators was a season high and the most given up in a game this season by Atlanta goaltender Damian Rhodes. Ottawa's previous best was Saturday night in a 5-0 win over Florida.

"We're still a little soft defensively," said Thrashers coach Curt Fraser. "I think we're trying to do too much. We're getting cauht out of position and there's no give when playing these teams. You make a mistake, you're paying for it."

The Senators also got first-period goals from Mike Fisher and Radek Bonk. McEachern assisted on the goals by Fisher his first of the season and Bonk's sixth.

Atlanta's top scorer, Andrew Brunette, scored his sixth goal of the season and Ed Ward scored his first in the opening period, beating Ottawa goalie Patrick Lalime.

Per Svartvadet scored his first goal of the season for the Thrashers with 50 seconds left in the game.

The Thrashers played without No. 1 draft pick Patrik Stefan, who was injured Friday during practice when he was struck by a puck, causing a one-half inch split in his right ear and necessitating plastic surgery. He's listed as day-to-day.

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