ATLANTA – Pasi Nurminen made 20 saves and the Atlanta Thrashers held Colorado’s NHL-leading power play scoreless in a 1-1 tie Thursday night.

The Avalanche had converted 24 percent of their opportunities with the man-advantage coming in, but they squandered five chances against the Thrashers, including a brief five-on-three in the second period.

That shouldn’t be a surprise, because the Thrashers lead the NHL in penalty killing at home.

Frantisek Kaberle gave Atlanta a 1-0 lead early in the first period on a power play, and Brad Larsen tied it in the second. Both goals came from unlikely scorers – it was Kaberle’s second of the season and Larsen’s third.

Colorado goalie David Aebischer made 20 saves.

For Thrashers coach Bob Hartley, it was his second game against the team he led to the Stanley Cup in 2001. He was fired by Colorado after a 10-8-9-4 start last season, and Atlanta hired him about a month later.

The Thrashers won the first meeting, a 4-3 victory in overtime last February. In 4 seasons with the Avalanche, Hartley was 198-118-48.

Perhaps mindful of Hartley’s presence, both teams played a tight, physical game. Atlanta’s Ben Simon came charging out of the penalty box in the first period and leveled Andrei Nikolishin, stealing the puck in the process.

Colorado is 6-1-1 in its past eight games, and Atlanta has a modest three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1).

Kaberle gave the Thrashers the lead with eight seconds left on the power play. Shawn McEachern dug out the puck in the corner, then fed Kaberle between the circles. His wrist shot beat David Aebischer for a 1-0 lead.

Larsen tied it with a one-timer at the 6:16 of the second, taking a pass from Milan Hejduk near the blue line and slapping the puck through Nurminen’s legs.

The Avalanche had their best chance to go ahead during that 20-second, two-man advantage in the second period. After they failed to score, they still had another 30 seconds on the power play, which they also wasted.

Another chance with the man-advantage early in the final period disappeared without a shot, and Colorado was called twice for offsides.

Notes: Thrashers D Garnet Exelby left in the first period because of a hip contusion and didn’t return. One of only six players on the team to play in every game this season, he has seven assists. … The Avalanche will finish a four-game road trip Saturday in Pittsburgh. They return home for one game, then hit the road again for two.

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