ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Manny Fernadez stopped Ilya Kovalchuk, the NHL's leading goal scorer, twice in the final 30 seconds as the Minnesota Wild held on for a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.
Kovalchuk's 11th goal pulled Atlanta within 3-2 with 3:54 remaining and the Thrashers pressed for the equalizer after pulling goaltender Byron Dafoe for an extra skater with 80 seconds left.
But Fernandez stopped a pair of slap shots by Kovalchuk, enabling the Wild to escape with the victory. He finished with 21 saves.
"There are good players all around the league," Fernandez said. "Every night there's one player who's going to be good offensively. We are paid the big bucks to watch out for everyone. But Kovalchuk, a kid for his age, what he's doing is awesome."
The Thrashers' best chance may have come with 10 seconds left when a one-timer by Vyacheslav Kozlov clanged off the right goalpost. The puck straddled the goal line before it was cleared.
"We had numerous chances to tie the game up, but the puck couldn't find the back of the net," Atlanta coach Bob Hartley said.
"We have to start stronger," added Kovalchuk, who tied Colorado's Peter Forsberg for the NHL scoring lead with his 16th point. "The last four games, we've been down 2-0. It's hard to come back every night. We have to start battling the first shift."
Despite facing early deficits, the Thrashers came away with two wins and an overtime loss in their previous four games.
Andrew Brunette and defenseman Filip Kuba scored power-play goals for Minnesota, which opened a 3-1 lead on Kuba's goal at 6:45 of the third period.
While the Wild still are two games under .500, their power play has been red hot. Minnesota is 11-for-26 with the man advantage in the last eight games and has scored two power-play goals in each of its last three contests.
"Our timing has been much better on the power play as a whole," said Brunette, whose team has won two straight games for the first time this season. "Timing is a very important thing. We are getting familiar with each other."
The Wild opened the scoring after Pascal Dupuis, who was playing in just his second game after ending a contract dispute, deflected a shot by Kuba. Brunette put a loose puck past Dafoe to make it 1-0.
The Wild nearly registered another goal with the man advantage as Wes Walz scored just as a power play was expiring. Walz fired a slap shot in traffic that went between Dafoe's pads to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead with 8:57 left in the second period.
The Thrashers halved the deficit on defenseman Frantisek Kaberle's power-play goal with 4:15 left in the second period, but the Wild regained their two-goal advantage on Kuba's power-play tally. From along the goal line, Brunette passed in front to a wide-open Kuba, whose one-timer beat Dafoe.
"The first period, we played like we played last year," said Kuba, referring to the Wild's run to the Western Conference finals. "We've still got a little to go to be like last year. We've got to work going the full 60 minutes."
Kuba's goal came after Dafoe was called for an interference penalty.
"There is absolutely nothing we can do," Hartley said. "It's a game of mistakes. I make mistakes, and maybe in their (referees') mind, they made the right call. You win some, you lose some."
Dafoe recorded 21 saves in his first appearance of the season.
The Wild improved to 4-0-1 all time against the Thrashers.
