ATLANTA, Ill., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Ilya Kovalchuk completed a hat trick with 4:45 left in the third period Saturday as unbeaten Atlanta continued its best-ever start with a 7-2 win over Chicago.
In his third NHL season, Kovalchuk is the league's early leader with five goals in five games. The Thrashers have won three and tied two.
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Marc Savard and Slava Kozlov assisted on Kovalchuk's power-play goal 3:26 into the first period.
Savard's goal made it 4-1 midway through the second period,
Chicago goaltender Jocelyn Thibault faced 28 shots before being pulled with 6 1/2 minutes left in the second after Jeff Cowan's goal made it 5-1.
Things got ugly at the end of the game with 127 penalty minutes dished out after several exchanges.
