<p>With two offensive players out of the lineup, Ilya Kovalchuk thinks he needs to play even better for the Atlanta Thrashers.</p><p>Thats a scary thought for the rest of the NHL.</p><p>Patrik Stefan scored on a penalty shot, and Randy Robitaille and Kovalchuk each had a goal and two assists in the Atlanta Thrashers 7-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night.</p><p>Shawn McEachern added three assists for Atlanta, which snapped a three-game winless streak and moved into first place in the Southeast Division.</p><p>Kovalchuk leads the league with 12 goals and 20 points.</p><p>The skys the limit for him, Atlanta coach Bob Hartley said. He still has a way to go, but hes paying more attention to details now.</p><p>Kovalchuk, who earlier this week was named NHLs offensive player of the month for October, opened the scoring at the 7:34 mark of the first with a quick wrister that beat Martin Biron.</p><p>Kovalchuk has scored in eight of the Thrashers 13 games and has a point in all but two games. It was also the sixth time this season he recorded a multiple-point game.</p><p>With Marc (Savard) and Dany (Heatley) missing I have to be a much better player than normal, Kovalchuk said. Those are two pretty good offensive players that are missing.</p><p>The Thrashers played their first game without Savard, who underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left ankle Tuesday. Hes expected to miss eight to 10 weeks. At the time of his injury, Savard was the teams second-leading scorer behind Kovalchuk.</p><p>Its a big hole to fill, said Robitaille, who moved to the top line Wednesday with Kovalchuk and McEachern. As a group, we have to pick it up.</p><p>Heatley, the MVP of last years NHL All-Star game, continues to recover from knee surgery and a broken jaw, injuries sustained in a car accident in which teammate Dan Snyder was killed.</p><p>And as a group, the Thrashers were successful for at least one game.</p><p>Seven different players scored goals while 10 players recorded at least a point.</p><p>We talked about increasing the responsibility of some players and they stepped up, Hartley said.</p><p>Atlanta turned a two-goal deficit after the first period into a 4-3 lead with three consecutive goals by Jean-Pierre Vigier, Ivan Majesky and Robitaille in a 3:23 span late in the second period.</p><p>Majesky and Robitailles goals came just 24 seconds apart.</p><p>Stefan scored on a penalty shot, Yannick Tremblay had a power-play goal and Serge Aubin scored in the third period for the Thrashers.</p><p>Stefan, Aubin and Tremblay also added one assist apiece.</p><p>Daniel Briere capped the scoring for the Sabres with a goal at 14:31 of the third period.</p><p>Whatever they shot went in, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. We didnt make a lot of mistakes but when we made them, every one of them found the back of our net.</p><p>The four goals were the most allowed this season by Pasi Nurminen, who made 28 saves.</p><p>Even though it was the first time hes allowed four, I thought he had a strong game, Hartley said.</p><p>The Sabres, 4-2-1 over their last seven games, took a 3-1 lead on first-period goals by Maxim Afinogenov, J.P. Dumont and Curtis Brown.</p><p>Atlanta broke out of a scoring slump that saw them score just 10 goals in their last five games. It was the second time this season that they scored seven goals.</p><p>Sometimes its a crazy game, Hartley said. At 3-1, it didnt look good for us but we started to put pucks on the net.</p><p>Biron, 3-8-0 against the Thrashers, was pulled with just over six minutes remaining.</p><p>I feel like I blew it, he said. It was 4-3 after two periods and I had to give us a chance to come back. Its my responsibility.</p><p>Notes:@ Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe was in attendance with rumors circulating throughout the press box about a possible deal between the Oilers and Thrashers involving Edmonton holdout forward Mike Comrie. ... Buffalo D Andy Delmore was scratched for the third consecutive game. Delmore has no points in 10 games. Delmore led NHL defenseman last season with 14 power-play goals. ... Atlanta began a three-game road trip on Wednesday. They will play in Columbus on Friday and at the New York Islanders on Saturday. ... Thrashers LW Simon Gamache earned his first NHL point on Majeskys goal. ... Buffalo allowed six straight goals for the second time this year. The Islanders scored six consecutive times in their 6-0 victory over the Sabres in Buffalos second game.</p>
