NHL: Atlanta 6, Montreal 2

ATLANTA, March 8 (UPI) -- Jon Sim scored twice Thursday night as Atlanta belted the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2.

Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov both had a goal and an assist; Eric Belanger and J.P. Vigier also scored once each; Alexei Zhitnik had two assists; and Keri Lehtonen made 33 saves on 35 shots for the Thrashers, who erupted for four goals in the second period, and ran their winning streak to five games in a row.

Atlanta had a 2-0 lead before its four goal outburst.

Guillaume Latendresse and Radek Bonk scored goals; Mike Johnson had two assists; Jaroslav Halak stopped just 10 of 15 shots in almost 27 minutes; and, in relief, David Aebischer made 13 saves on 14 shots for the Canadiens, who have lost five of their last six games.

Kovalchuk scored the game's lone power play goal.