Dec 2, 2003 By Asscoiated Press 3 min read

PITTSBURGH – If Penguins coach Eddie Olczyk was trying to get the attention of the inconsistent Ramzi Abid and Aleksey Morozov by sitting them down, it worked. Abid scored on a two-on-one break with 3:43 remaining and Pittsburgh rallied twice to beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 on Monday night before the Penguins’ smallest home crowd in nearly eight years.

The turnout of 9,576 was the Penguins’ worst since 7,170 braved a snowstorm Dec. 19, 1995, to watch them play Calgary.

The Penguins’ attendance is down more than 3,000 per game from last season, causing the team to announce owner-player Mario Lemieux had turned down the $5 million raise offered him by the team’s board.

Those who didn’t show up missed an infrequent Penguins victory, only their third in 13 games.

As Atlanta defenseman Chris Tamer tried to control the puck along the left wing boards, Morozov skated past, grabbed it and found Abid breaking in from the opposite wing for his second goal and first since Oct. 18.

“The credit all goes to Aleksey,” Abid said. “He was very unselfish on that. I had an open net and he got it to me.”

Both Abid and Morozov were healthy scratches Saturday night against Carolina. Abid had been benched for five consecutive games and hadn’t scored since the fourth game of the season. Morozov had only one point in six games. Asked if he saw what he wanted from Morozov, Olczyk said, “Absolutely.”

Penguins rookie goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped a six-game losing streak that dated to Nov. 1, turning aside 24 of 27 shots and holding Atlanta scoreless for the final 33 minutes. The No. 1 draft pick is 4-8-2.

The Thrashers led 2-1 and 3-2, but the Penguins rallied to tie it each time against goalie Pasi Nurminen. Dick Tarnstrom scored his fifth of the season off a rebound in the slot to make it 2-all early in the second, 41 seconds after J.P. Vigier’s short-handed goal gave Atlanta the lead. Tarnstrom and Abid each had a goal and an assist.

Marc Savard later put Atlanta up 3-2 on a power play. Ryan Malone tied it again for Pittsburgh midway through the second period.

, tapping in Mike Eastwood’s pass – the game’s first even-strength goal since Pittsburgh’s Brian Holzinger scored his second in as many games with 12½ minutes gone.

Ilya Kovalchuk answered that with his third in four games, taking Frantisek Kaberle’s pass from the right point to beat Fleury from the high slot for his NHL-leading 18th goal. Kovalchuk has five goals in eight games against Pittsburgh.