Slava Kozlov and the Thrashers hit rock bottom the previous time they played Ottawa.

On Thursday, Kozlov and the Thrashers continued their upward arc under Bob Hartley against the NHL's overall standings leader with a 3-3 tie at Philips Arena.

The Thrashers suffered one of the worst losses in franchise history on Jan. 2, 8-1 at Ottawa. In that game Kozlov earned a three-game suspension for grabbing referee Brad Meier's arm in a fit of frustration as he protested a call.

That night concluded a horrendous stretch for the left wing in which he totaled three points in 15 games. Since returning, the two-time 30-goal scorer has been the Thrashers' best offensive player, totaling five goals and seven assists in eight games.

Kozlov's rebound goal off Andy Sutton's point shot on a power play tied the score 1-1 in the first period. In the second period he assisted on Tony Hrkac's score, tying the score 2-2.

All that while battling the flu.

Kozlov attributed his resurgence to being a notoriously slow starter and to playing on a line with leading scorer Dany Heatley and Marc Savard (10 points in his past 11 games).

"For some reason, I've always played better in the second half," Kozlov said. "One year, four or five years ago, the first 15 games I had zero goals and 10 [shots off the] posts. Somehow, I start scoring. I'm getting in shape and playing with a lot confidence. It's also important who you play with. Dany and Savy -- that's a great line."

Kozlov and Sutton have combined on the power play for several goals over the past two weeks.

"He sees the ice so well," Sutton said. "I try to get open for him. He's really good digging pucks out of the net. If he's not the one passing, he's usually right off the post looking for rebounds. He's pretty crafty on the [power play]."

Said Hartley: "Every game he finds a way to make some plays. He's so smart with the puck. The guy has so much experience that he knows all of the little shortcuts out there.

Plus, he's so patient with the puck, he makes great plays. He makes everything look so easy, whether he plays with Savy and Dany or I can throw him out there with Kovy [Ilya Kovalchuk] -- he can adjust to basically every player, so that gives us a lot of options."