ATLANTA (AP) -After his team played poorly the night before, Thrashers coach John Anderson challenged his players to focus on fundamental hockey.
``We weren't floundering in our zone as much because we played the body a lot more and helped out when the time was right,' Anderson said. ``Forwards were collapsing in front the net, all the little things that add up. I just thought our concerted effort was much better tonight.'
Defensemen Tobias Enstrom and Ron Hainsey forced overtime with third-period goals, and Rich Peverley and Slava Kozlov scored in a shootout to give the Thrashers a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis on Sunday night.
Marty Reasoner set up both third-period goals to help Atlanta (7-6-1) snap a four-game home losing streak and two-game slide overall.
St. Louis earned a point for the third straight game, but is winless in five.
Ty Conklin stopped the first 27 shots he faced for St. Louis (5-6-4) before Enstrom scored to cut it to 2-1 with 7:01 left in regulation.
The Blues have lost their last two in shootouts, but coach Andy Murray didn't regret his decision to keep his team aggressive with a 2-0 lead.
``We didn't want to play shutdown in the third,' Murray said. ``We wanted to play attack oriented hockey. You don't sit on a lead. We made a mistake. They scored.'
Atlanta began the game with a 25.5 percentage on the power play that ranked third in the NHL, but the Thrashers finished 0 for 6 after failing to score in two chances with an extra man Saturday in a 6-3 road loss to the New York Islanders.
Defenseman Zach Bogosian thought Atlanta was playing too passively in its end.
``We needed to get pucks on net and shoot more,' Bogosian said. ``We did that in the third.'
Hainsey tied it with 3:31 to go. Reasoner won a faceoff near St. Louis' bench, and Hainsey, who controlled the puck at the left boards, beat Conklin with a wrist shot.
``You always hope that those bounces even out, and we were one shot in the Washington game,' Reasoner said. ``So we got even today. It's nice to catch that one break and put us in the right direction for these next home games.'
Andy McDonald opened the scoring at 6:55 of the second period, and David Perron gave the Blues a two-goal lead on a power play at 7:08 of the third.
Johan Hedberg made 30 saves for Atlanta, while Conklin stopped 38 shots.
``Atlanta is a strong offensive team,' Murray said. ``The best way to play against them is to be in their zone. We had a couple of chances to make it 3-0 but we failed to execute.
In the tiebreaker, Peverley beat Conklin with a low shot. Kozlov scored after taking a wide turn from the right circle and crossing the slot.
``He's magic,' Anderson said of Kozlov. ``And the good thing about that is it's not the same one every time. I feel confident with (Hedberg) Slava in there because they practice it every day.'
NOTES: The Blues also lost a shootout 2-1 Saturday in Philadelphia. ... McDonald's goal ended a stretch of four straight games in which St. Louis failed to score in the first or second period. ... Atlanta improved to 5-6-1 against the Blues, 3-3-1 at Philips Arena.
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