Pregame, vs. NY Rangers, Mar. 16

The Moose is loose! Johan Hedberg is in goal tonight for the Thrashers when the New York Rangers come into town. The Rangers are in desperate need of points because they are in the logjam for the last playoff spot in the East.

The Thrashers lost last night in Philly and play the second half of the back to back tonight.

The Rangers have played an incredible 7 straight games that have been decided by one goal, going 4-1-2 in the games.

Tonight is Nascar Night at Philips. There was not a morning skate so there aren’t any changes to report.

Season series:

• Nov. 10: L, 5-2
• Nov. 28: W, 5-4 (OT)
• Jan. 20: W, 3-1

Rangers		Thrashers
34-28-8	Record	37-25-10
76	Points	84
A, 4th	Division Rank	SE, 1st
	vs. NYR	13-13-1
	vs. NYR in Atlanta	4-9-0
1-1-1	This Season	2-1-0
18-13-3	on Road
	at Home	19-10-6
2-1-1	Last 5	4-1-0
5-2-3	Last 10	6-3-1
11-7-1	vs. Opposing Division	9-7-2
Jan. 20	Last Meeting	W, 3-1
.640	Win %, Leading After 1	.654
.724	Leading After 2	.733
.261	Trailing After 1	.346
.250	Trailing After 2	.214
Karel Rachunek	Injuries	Steve Rucchin
Marcel Hossa
Fedor Tyutin
18.7% (8)	Power Play (RK)	16.4% (23)
83.4% (12)	Penalty Kill (RK)	78.6% (26)
7	Goal Differential	0
0.96 (19)	5 on 5 Ratio (RK)	1.15 (9)
31.0 (9)	Shots/G (RK)	29.7 (14)
28.3 (6)	SA/G (RK)	31.4 (24)
49.7% (15)	Faceoff % (RK)	52.8% (3)
	SHG	8
B. Shanahan (28)	Team Leaders – Goals	M. Hossa (40)
J. Jagr (57)	Assists	M. Hossa (50)
J. Jagr (81)	Points	M. Hossa (90)
B. Shanahan (14)	PP Goals	I. Kovalchuk (16)
Lundqvist	Goalies	Hedberg
29-21-6	Record	6-4-2
3	Shutouts	0
2.47	GAA	3.26
0.912	Save %	.882

Pregame, @ Florida, Mar. 10

Preview - Game Notes – Viewing Party

The Thrashers head into Sunrise, Florida for a 7:30 game tonight, which could turn out to be a record night for the franchise. With a win, the team would set the record for longest winning streak, and most games over .500.

Florida has been playing great hockey recently, scoring a point in 8 out of their last 10. Atlanta beat them this past Tuesday 4-2, on the strength of two Keith Tkachuk goals. That was against a Florida team playing on the road though. At home, they are completely different, going 19-10-4, which is the fifth best Eastern Conference home record.

This season, Kari Lehtonen has absolutely dominated the Panthers, giving up only 8 goals in 6 games, with two shutouts.

The game is not on TV tonight.

Season series:

• 10/7: W, 6-0
  
• 10/21: W, 4-2
  
• 10/22: W, 6-3
  
• 11/25: W, 1-0
  
• 12/2: W, 3-1 — Video
• 3/6: W, 4-2 — Video

Thrashers		Panthers
36-23-10	Record	28-27-13
82	Points	69
SE, 1st	Division Rank	SE, 4th
24-9-7	vs. FLA
11-6-2	@ FLA
6-0-0	This Season	0-6-0
18-13-4	on Road
	at Home	19-10-4
5-0-0	Last 5	4-1-0
6-3-1	Last 10	6-2-2
15-5-6	vs. Opposing Division	8-12-3
W, 4-2	Last Meeting	Tuesday
.667	Win %, Leading After 1	.750
.724	Leading After 2	.778
.360	Trailing After 1	.125
.231	Trailing After 2	.077
Steve Rucchin	Injuries	Alex Auld
		Branislav Mezei
16.8% (22)	Power Play (RK)	18.6% (9)
78.5% (27)	Penalty Kill (RK)	82.4% (17)
0	Goal Differential	-17
1.14 (9)	5 on 5 Ratio (RK)	1.03 (12)
29.6 (14)	Shots/G (RK)	33.2 (2)
31.2 (24)	SA/G (RK)	29.2 (14)
52.9% (2)	Faceoff % (RK)	48.1% (25)
8	SHG	5
M. Hossa (39)	Team Leaders – Goals	O. Jokinen (30)
M. Hossa (48)	Assists	O. Jokinen (37)
M. Hossa (87)	Points	O. Jokinen (67)
I. Kovalchuk (16)	PP Goals	O. Jokinen (9)
Lehtonen	Goalies	Belfour
30-19-8	Record	21-14-8
4	Shutouts	1
2.81	GAA	2.69
.910	Save %	.905

Pregame, vs. Montreal, Mar. 8

Game Notes – Preview

Update: From the AJC Blog, Jaroslav Halak is in goal tonight for the Habs instead of Aebischer.

The game tonight in Atlanta showcases two teams heading in opposite directions. The Thrashers have been winning of late, and are 4-1-0 and their last five, while Montreal is the opposite going 1-4 in the same time period.

Montreal’s star goalie Cristobal Huet is hurt, but don’t chalk this up as an automatic win. David Aebischer is a very good goalie and can stand on his head to steal a game at times.

Montreal has owned Atlanta this season, beating the Thrashers all three meetings. The key tonight is to stay even strength. Atlanta is ranked 9th in 5 on 5 scoring, and Montreal is 29th. Don’t let them get on the power play, because they have the best squad in the league, and we all know how the Thrashers do on the penalty kill.

The game is not on local TV, but is on HDNet. For those that get it, enjoy it. It is also Hossa and Sutton cup giveaway to the first 4,000 fans, so make sure to get there early.

Season series:

• 11/18: L, 3-1 -Video
• 1/9: L, 4-2 – Video
• 1/18: L, 4-1 – Video

Canadiens		Thrashers
33-29-6	Record	35-23-10
72	Points	80
NE, 4th	Division Rank	SE, 1st
	vs. MON	6-18-3
	vs. MON in ATL	2-9-2
3-0-0	This Season	0-3-0
14-17-3	on Road
	at Home	17-10-6
1-4	Last 5	4-1-0
4-6-0	Last 10	5-4-1
10-8-0	vs. Opposing Division	9-6-1
W, 4-1	Last Meeting	Jan. 18
.706	Win %, Leading After 1	.652
.864	Leading After 2	.714
.276	Trailing After 1	.360
.242	Trailing After 2	.231
Alex Perezhogin	Injuries	Steve Rucchin
Cristobal Huet
23.3% (1)	Power Play (RK)	16.7% (23)
83.1% (14)	Penalty Kill (RK)	78.1% (28)
-14	Goal Differential	-4
0.71 (29)	5 on 5 Ratio (RK)	1.11 (9)
29.6 (14)	Shots/G (RK)	29.6 (13)
33.0 (28)	SA/G (RK)	31.1 (23)
49.3% (19)	Faceoff % (RK)	53.0% (2)
16	SHG	8
S. Souray (23)	Team Leaders – Goals	M. Hossa (39)
S. Koivu (39)	Assists	M. Hossa (46)
S. Koivu (57)	Points	M. Hossa (85)
S. Souray (16)	PP Goals	M. Hossa (16)
Halak	Goalies	Lehtonen
3-3-0	Record	29-19-8
0	Shutouts	4
3.15	GAA	2.83
.891	Save %	.910

Pregame, vs. Florida, Mar. 06

Game Notes – Preview

The Thrashers take on the Florida Panthers tonight at 7:00 p.m. Although the Panthers are the third worst team in the East, don’t take them lightly, as they come into the game today having gone 7-1-2 in their last ten, and are on a seven game point streak.

SportSouth is broadcasting the game.

The season series is heavily favored for Atlanta, who is 5-0-0 against the Panthers. In those five games, Kari Lehtonen has been the top star four times, and has two shutouts.

The Panthers have a great powerplay, and generate a ton of shots (2nd most in the league), so the defense will have to play well tonight. The Atlanta centers should have a good game though in the faceoff circle because Florida ranks 26th in the league, while Atlanta is 2nd.

10 of the 15 Eastern Conference teams are in action tonight, so there will be a bunch of movement. With an Atlanta win and a Tampa Bay loss, the Thrashers will take over sole possession of 1st place in the division and 3rd place in the conference.

Season series:

• 10/7: W, 6-0
  
• 10/21: W, 4-2
  
• 10/22: W, 6-3
  
• 11/25: W, 1-0
  
• 12/2: W, 3-1 — Video

Panthers		Thrashers
27-26-13	Record	34-23-10
67	Points	78
SE, 4th	Division Rank	SE, 2nd
	vs. Panthers	23-9-7
	vs. FLA in ATL	12-3-5
0-5-0	This Season	5-0-0
8-16-9	on Road
	at Home	16-10-6
4-0-1	Last 5	3-1-1
7-1-2	Last 10	4-5-1
8-11-3	vs. Opposing Division	14-5-6
Dec. 2	Last Meeting	W, 3-1
.750	Win %, Leading After 1	.652
.778	Leading After 2	.704
.125	Trailing After 1	.360
.080	Trailing After 2	.231
Alex Auld	Injuries	Steve Rucchin
Branislav Mezei
18.8% (8)	Power Play (RK)	16.6% (23)
82.1% (16)	Penalty Kill (RK)	78.0% (28)
-16	Goal Differential	-6
1.03 (12)	5 on 5 Ratio (RK)	1.10 (9)
33.1 (2)	Shots/G (RK)	29.6 (15)
29.2 (13)	SA/G (RK)	31.0 (22)
48.0% (26)	Faceoff % (RK)	52.9% (2)
5	SHG	8
O. Jokinen (30)	Team Leaders – Goals	M. Hossa (38)
O. Jokinen (37)	Assists	M. Hossa (46)
O. Jokinen (67)	Points	M. Hossa (84)
O. Jokinen (9)	PP Goals	I. Kovalchuk (15)
Belfour	Goalies	Lehtonen
20-13-8	Record	28-19-8
1	Shutouts	4
2.70	GAA	2.84
.904	Save %	.909

Pregame, vs. Carolina, Mar. 4

Game Notes – Preview

The Carolina Hurricanes come into Atlanta for a Sunday matinée game with large playoff positioning implications. The Tampa Bay Lightning lost yesterday, and so with a win today the Thrashers would pull into a tie for first place in the division. With a Carolina win, they would pull within one point of the Thrashers.

The game is not going to be on TV today. It was originally on NBC but was dropped. Scott Burnside talked about this the other day:

Nice job by NBC to rob Carolina and Atlanta fans of a chance to see their teams play in a crucial Southeast Division matchup this weekend. The game was, quite properly, originally scheduled to be one of NBC’s national telecasts Sunday. But the network decided it wanted more Sidney Crosby and dumped the Thrashers-Hurricanes game, leaving no local television coverage in either market. Instead, fans in the East will get to see Crosby playing the NHL’s worst team, Philadelphia. That’ll be nice for all those Martin Biron fans. Memo to NBC: The NHL has 30 teams. We understand players named Hossa, Kovalchuk, Brind’Amour, Tkachuk, Ward, Staal and Stillman actually can play the game, too.

It is also the mullet giveaway game. Should be interesting to see how those look.

Season series:

• 10/13: L, 4-3
• 10/25: L (OT), 5-4
• 11/1: L, 5-2
• 1/13: W (SO), 4-3 — Video
• 2/20: W, 3-1 — Video
• 2/24: L, 4-1 — Video

Hurricanes		Thrashers
33-27-7	Record	33-23-10
73	Points	76
SE, 3rd	Division Rank	SE, 2nd
	vs. Canes	10-20-10
	vs. Canes in ATL	4-10-6
4-1-1	This Season	2-3-1
16-14-3	on Road
	at Home	15-10-6
3-2-0	Last 5	3-1-1
5-5-0	Last 10	4-5-1
14-7-2	vs. Opposing Division	13-5-6
W, 4-1	Last Meeting	Feb. 24
.909	Win %, Leading After 1	.652
.920	Leading After 2	.692
.320	Trailing After 1	.360
.080	Trailing After 2	.231
Bret Hedican	Injuries	Steve Rucchin
Erik Cole
15.4% (25)	Power Play (RK)	16.5% (23)
83.8% (10)	Penalty Kill (RK)	77.7% (28)
-8	Goal Differential	-8
0.91 (20)	5 on 5 Ratio (RK)	1.09 (9)
29.7 (13)	Shots/G (RK)	30.7 (9)
29.0 (11)	SA/G (RK)	30.9 (22)
52.1% (6)	Faceoff % (RK)	52.9% (2)
J. Williams (31)	Team Leaders – Goals	M. Hossa (36)
R. Brind’amour (49)	Assists	M. Hossa (46)
R. Whitney (73)	Points	M. Hossa (82)
Ward	Goalies	Lehtonen
26-17-6	Record	27-19-8
1	Shutouts	4
2.88	GAA	2.88
.899	Save %	.907

Pregame, vs. Ottawa, Mar. 2

Preview – Game Notes
The Thrashers play tonight at home against the streaking Senators, who are 8-1-1 in their last ten games played. This is the first of a four game homestand for the Thrashers, who have lost their last five at Philips Arena.

Tonight is Marian Hossa statue night, and the puck drops at 7:30. The game is also the home debut for newly acquired Keith Tkachuk, Alexei Zhitnik, and Pascal Dupuis. SportSouth will not broadcast the game on TV tonight.

From the Web Guy on the message boards, the lines that were practicing together yesterday are:
Kovalchuk- Tkachuk- Sim
Kozlov- Belanger- Hossa
Dupuis- Holik- Larsen
Vigier- Slater- Mellanby

Season series:

• 11/8: W, 5-4
• 1/1: W, 3-2 (OT)
• 2/17: L, 5-3

Senators		Thrashers
38-22-4	Record	32-23-10
80	Points	74
NE, 2nd	Division Rank	SE, 2nd
	vs. Senators	9-16-2
	vs. Sens in ATL	4-8-1
1-1-1	This Season	2-1-0
17-11-2	on Road
	at Home	14-10-6
4-0-1	Last 5	2-2-1
8-1-1	Last 10	3-5-2
10-5-2	vs. Opposing Division	8-6-1
W, 5-3	Last Meeting	Feb. 17
.806	Win %, Leading After 1	.652
.848	Leading After 2	.692
.385	Trailing After 1	.360
.167	Trailing After 2	.200
Lawrence Nycholat	Injuries	Steve Rucchin
17.5% (18)	Power Play (RK)	16.8% (22)
83.8% (9)	Penalty Kill (RK)	78.1% (28)
48	Goal Differential	-10
1.38 (4)	5 on 5 Ratio (RK)	1.06 (11)
32.8 (3)	Shots/G (RK)	29.8 (13)
30.8 (20)	SA/G (RK)	31.0 (22)
50.4% (12)	Faceoff % (RK)	52.7% (2)
D. Heatley (38)	Team Leaders – Goals	M. Hossa (36)
D. Heatley (44)	Assists	V. Kozlov (45)
D. Heatley (82)	Points	M. Hossa (80)
Emery	Goalies	Lehtonen
26-13-2	Record	26-19-8
5	Shutouts	4
2.45	GAA	2.89
.921	Save %	.907

Pregame, @ Boston, Feb. 26

The Thrashers head into Boston tonight to take on the streaking Bruins, who are 7-3-0 in their last ten games. Tonight will be the debuts of recently acquired Alexei Zhitnik and Keith Tkachuk.

The game will be broadcast tonight on national TV in the US on Versus.

Season series:

• Oct. 11: W, 4-1
• Lehtonen sets franchise shutout streak
• Nov. 6: W, 5-3
• Kovalchuk hat trick

I believe that tonight will be a statement game for the team, who will break out of their recent funk and announce to the league that the team that was second in the East for almost four months is back, and will compete for the division crown. I can’t wait to see what Zhitnik and Tkachuk can do.

Thrashers		Bruins
31-23-10	Record	30-27-4
72	Points	64
SE, 2nd	Division Rank	NE, 5th
11-11-4	vs. Bruins
4-4-4	@ Bruins
2-0-0	This Season	0-2-0
17-13-4	on Road
	at Home	16-12-2
1-3-1	Last 5	3-1-1
2-6-2	Last 10	7-3-0
7-6-1	vs. Opposing Division	8-9-0
W, 5-3	Last Meeting	Nov. 6
.652	Win %, Leading After 1	0.667
.692	Leading After 2	0.737
.333	Trailing After 1	0.158
.200	Trailing After 2	0.160
Steve Rucchin	Injuries	Andrew Alberts
		Glen Murray
		Chuck Kobasew
16.4% (22)	Power Play (RK)	19.1% (8)
77.8% (28)	Penalty Kill (RK)	81.8% (17)
-11	Goal Differential	-43
1.07 (11)	5 on 5 Ratio (RK)	.74 (28)
29.9 (12)	Shots/G (RK)	28.8 (18)
31.1 (23)	SA/G (RK)	34.0 (30)
52.7% (2)	Faceoff % (RK)	49.1% (19)
M. Hossa (35)	Team Leaders – Goals	G. Murray (27)
M. Hossa (44)	Assists	M. Savard (61)
M. Hossa (79)	Points	M. Savard (82)
Lehtonen	Goalies	Thomas
25-19-8	Record	27-19-3
4	Shutouts	3
2.91	GAA	3.09
0.907	Save %	0.907

Pregame, vs. Carolina, Feb. 24

Game Notes – Preview

The Hurricanes come into town to play the Thrashers for the second time this week. The Canes traded for Anson Carter from the Blues yesterday, and tonight is expected to be his first game with the new team.

From the Blueland Blog, Brad Larsen is healthy and will play, Metro is a healthy scratch, and Kari is in goal tonight. The lines are as follows:

Kozlov- Belanger- Hossa
Kovalchuk- Slater- Sim
Vigier- Holik- Boulton
Larsen- Kapanen- Mellanby

Get to the game early, there are a bunch of events downtown tonight and there will be lots of traffic. It is also Kari statue night. It is a sellout, and we all know how that team does with a packed house. Sellouts usually have a large amount of fans that aren’t really huge fans, so it tends to be somewhat quiet. For everyone going, MAKE NOISE. Wear blue, and help the guys get two points tonight. The Canes are only three points back of us.

Season series:

• 10/13: L, 4-3
• 10/25: L (OT), 5-4
• 11/1: L, 5-2
• 1/13: W (SO), 4-3 — Video
• 2/20: W, 3-1 — Video

Hurricanes		Thrashers
31-25-7	Record	31-22-10
69	Points	72
SE, 3rd	Division Rank	SE, 2nd
	vs. Canes	10-19-10
	vs. Canes in ATL	4-9-6
3-1-1	This Season	2-2-1
15-13-3	on Road
	at Home	14-9-6
2-2-1	Last 5	1-3-1
5-4-1	Last 10	2-6-2
13-7-2	vs. Opposing Division	13-4-6
Feb. 20, 07	Last Meeting	W, 3-1
.905	Win %, Leading After 1	.652
.957	Leading After 2	.692
.304	Trailing After 1	.348
.083	Trailing After 2	.208
Erik Cole	Injuries	Steve Rucchin
Cory Stillman
16.0% (25)	Power Play (RK)	16.5% (22)
83.0% (14)	Penalty Kill (RK)	77.6% (30)
-8	Goal Differential	-8
0.90 (22)	5 on 5 Ratio (RK)	1.10 (11)
31.0 (8)	Shots/G (RK)	29.9 (13)
29.0 (11)	SA/G (RK)	31.2 (23)
52.2	Faceoff %	52.5
J. Williams (29)	Team Leaders – Goals	M. Hossa (35)
R. Brind’Amour (47)	Assists	M. Hossa (43)
R. Whitney (70)	Points	M. Hossa (78)
Grahame	Goalies	Lehtonen
6-9-1	Record	25-15-8
0	Shutouts	4
3.03	GAA	2.91
0.895	Save %	0.908

Pregame, vs. Tampa Bay, Feb. 22

Preview – Game Notes

After a very long and pretty bad (to put it kindly) road trip, the Thrashers come home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning. Both teams have 71 points, but the Bolts have an edge in fewer games played and more wins. Whoever wins tonight though will take the clear division lead.

The game should be a special teams battle. The Lightning have the 6th best power play in league which will go up against the Thrasher’s league-worst penalty kill. Tampa isn’t much better with a man down as they are the second worst team in the league.

Coming off his stellar performance against the Hurricanes on Tuesday, Johan Hedberg will start again tonight.

Call yourself a Thrasher’s fan? Then I expect you to be at the game tonight. This is an incredibly huge match up, and is the most important game so far this season. Wear something blue, come to the game, and be loud. The last time the Thrashers played the Bolts at home was the game where Jimmy Slater scored with 8 seconds left for the win. I remember how loud that game was, and the chants at the end of the game seemed to draw that goal from nowhere. I hope that it is that loud again tonight.

Season series:
10/5: L, 3-2 (SO)
10/9: W, 1-0
11/11: L, 5-3
11/24: L, 3-2 (OT)
12/7: L, 8-0
12/26: W, 2-1 – Dan Kamal’s call – Video

Lightning		Thrashers
34-24-3	Record	31-22-9
71	Points	71
SE, 1st	Division Rank	SE, 2nd
	vs. Lightning	16-16-8
	vs. Bolts in ATL	10-5-4
4-2-0	This Season	2-2-2
17-11-3	on Road
	at Home	14-9-5
4-0-1	Last 5	1-4-0
8-1-1	Last 10	3-6-1
14-7-1	vs. Opposing Division	13-4-5
Dec. 26, 06	Last Meeting	W, 2-1
.750	Win %, Leading After 1	.682
.826	Leading After 2	.692
.400	Trailing After 1	.348
.318	Trailing After 2	.208
Rob DiMaio	Injuries	Steve Rucchin
		Brad Larsen
19.7% (6)	Power Play (RK)	16.4% (22)
77.9% (29)	Penalty Kill (RK)	77.6% (30)
9	Goal Differential	-7
0.97 (14)	5 on 5 Ratio (RK)	1.10 (10)
29.9 (15)	Shots/G (RK)	30.0 (13)
27.0 (4)	SA/G (RK)	31.2 (23)
48.5	Faceoff %	52.3
V. Lecavalier (39)	Team Leaders – Goals	M. Hossa (34)
M. St. Louis (44)	Assists	M. Hossa (42)
V. Lecavalier (81)	Points	M. Hossa (76)
Holmqvist	Goalies	Hedberg
21-11-1	Record	6-4–1
1	Shutouts	0
2.72	GAA	3.15
0.898	Save %	0.886

GAME DAY!

This may be the most excited I’ve been for a gameday in awhile. Since I haven’t posted recently, I would just like to give you one quote which I think sums up the Carolina victory pretty well:

“Just when I think you can’t get any stupider you go and do something like this… AND TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!” (Dumb and Dumber)

Other than that, I am speechless. All I can think is “Lets Go Thrashers! Lets Go Thrashers! Lets Go Thrashers! YEEAAHHHHH!” If you don’t hear the voice in that quote, it is Lil Jon.