*Update: (11:49am. Milan Lucic is expected to play tonight, per Boston.com, "most likely on the fourth line with Steve Begin and Byron Bitz")
Home Team: Atlanta Thrashers (10-6-1, 21 points, 3rd Southeast Division, 9th Eastern Conference, 4-1-0 last five games)
By: Phil Foley, Atlanta Thrashers Examiner
Who's Hot: “Mad” Max Afinogenov has been nothing but happy lately, finding the net four times and adding two helpers in his last three games. He is third on the team with 17 points (seven goals and 10 assists).
Ilya Kovalchuk returned from a six game absence with a broken bone in his right foot and picked up right where he left off. The Atlanta captain posted eight points (five goals and three assists) in his first three games back from the injury en route to notching the NHL’s Second Star of the Week ending November 15.
Rich Peverley has excelled wherever coach John Anderson has put him this season, posting a team-high 23 points (eight goals and 15 assists) in 17 games on Atlanta’s first, second and third lines. He has a goal and five assists over the Thrashers’ last three contests.
Zach Bogosian leads all NHL defensemen with eight tallies and is two away from the franchise mark of 10 set by Yannick Trembley.
Who's Not: Marty Reasoner is still looking for his first goal of the season and has posted just eight assists in the club’s first 17 games. However, four of those helpers have come in Atlanta’s last two games.
Todd White is a team-worst minus-6 and has not scored since October 29.
Jim Slater has been held completely off of the scoresheet in his first nine games.
What To Watch For: Look to see whether the high-octane first line of Kovalchuk, Afinogenov and Nik Antropov can pick up where they left off over the weekend. Kovalchuk and Afinogenov have been dazzling with their speed and puck handling abilities and Antropov, although without a goal yet this season, has been setting up the duo with regularity.
Who To Watch For: Forward Bryan Little (slight groin strain) and blueliner Pavel Kubina (lower body soreness) may return to the lineup on Thursday. Should Little return, it will be interesting to see what Anderson does with Peverley, who certainly has justified his position on Atlanta’s second line.
It’s possible that Slava Kozlov or perhaps even Little gets time with Colby Armstrong and Evander Kane on the third line with Marty Reasoner anchoring the fourth line and Jim Slater spending time in the Philips Arena press box.
Ondrej Pavelec will get the start in net after missing Sunday’s game for precautionary reasons after taking a puck to the knee in Thursday’s rout of the Los Angeles Kings.
Line Combinations:
Kovalchuk—Antropov—Afinogenov
Peverley—White—Kozlov
Kane—Reasoner—Armstrong
Eric Boulton—Slater—Chris Thorburn
Ron Hainsey—Zach Bogosian
Kubina—Tobias Enstrom
Christoph Schubert/Mark Popovic/Anssi Salmela
Pavelec—Johan Hedberg
Injury Report: Little (day-to-day) – slight groin strain; Kubina (day-to-day) – lower body soreness; Boris Valabik (high right ankle sprain) – placed on Injured Reserve October 5, began conditioning assignment with Chicago Wolves (AHL) on November 18; Kari Lehtonen (back surgery) – Placed on IR September 14, had second back surgery on October 30, out additional four-to-six weeks.
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Away Team: Boston Bruins (8-8-4, 20 points, 3rd northeast Division, 11th Eastern Conference, 2-1-2 last five games)
Who's Hot: With a 2-3-3 record this month, it's hard to find a particular player who is on a hot streak. However, the Bruins penalty-kill has been lights-out as of late—successfully killing 39 of their last 40 times shorthanded. Boston is now third in the NHL with an 84.7 penalty-kill percentage (60-for-71)
Who's Not: Where to begin? Dennis Wideman has received an early Christmas present from the NHL stat-trackers, having only been accounted for 12 giveaways thus far this season. I must be watching different games because that number is surely higher. Nonetheless, Wideman has made some costly turnovers resulting in goals this season, as well as opposing scoring chances.
Marco Sturm and Michael Ryder have been, how should I put this...bad. For forwards whom are on the top-two line, and are getting paid nearly $8MM total, eight goals in 20 games is awful. Sturm does have two goals in his last five games, but through 19 games last season (missed the rest of the season with an ACL tear) he netted seven. Ryder has been worse. No. 73 snapped a 10-game scoreless drought on Saturday night against the Penguins, but followed with just one shot on goal in Monday's loss to the New York Islanders.
What To Watch For: The Bruins goaltending to be the equalizer against the red hot Ilya Kovalchuk and Atlanta Thrashers. Match-ups will be a big part of this game as Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Derek Morris are sure to log a ton of minutes against the Kovalchuk—Antropov—Afinogenov line, but Tim Thomas will be the last line of defense.
Despite allowing six goals-against in the 6-5 OT loss to the Penguins last Saturday night, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner allowed just five goals in his previous five starts—including a 1-0 shootout loss to the Panthers on Nov. 5 and 3-0 victory of the Penguins on Nov. 10.
Also watch for the power-play/penalty-kill battles. Boston is horrendous with the man-advantage—last in the NHL with 12.9-percent (9-for-70). The Thrashers (4th) are right behind the Bruins on the penalty-kill, but are ranked second in the league on the power-play with 26.5-percent (18-for-68).
Who to watch For: I'm watching Shawn Thornton Thursday night. He, along with Thrashers enforcer Eric Boulton, participated in off-season boxing classes (separately) to improve their endurance and better their fisticuffs. It could be a classic battle if, and when, these two decide to drop the gloves.
No.22 has four fighting majors in his last five games. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and plays with such emotion and intensity, trying to give his teammates that extra boost. I don't expect that to stop in this contest.
Also watch for the line of Wheeler—Krejci—Ryder. Coach Julien sent a message to the line the other day at practice—double and triple shifting them throughout the end of drills. We'll see if the kick in the pants worked, as this line is still underachieving.
Unsung Player: Has got to be Daniel Paille. He's been a pleasant surprise since being acquired by the Bruins, from the Buffalo Sabres, last month. Two goals in his last five games while logging just over 13-minutes of ice-time per game has been great for the 25-year-old, but it's the near two-minutes that he gets on the penalty-kill per game where Paille has been the biggest addition. He leads all Bruins' forwards with PK time, plays a pivotal role with the man-down, and is one of the main players for the Bruins success on the shorthand.
Line Combinations:
Marco Sturm—Patrice Bergeron—Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler—David Krejci—Michael Ryder
Shawn Thornton—Steve Begin—Byron Bitz
Brad Marchand—Vladimir Sobotka—Daniel Paille
Zdeno Chara—Derek Morris
Matt Hunwick—Dennis Wideman
Andrew Ference—Mark Stuart
Tim Thomas—Tuukka Rask
Injury Report: Johnny Boychuk continues to be a healthy scratch. Milan Lucic, who was expected to be a game-time decision tomorrow night, is now officially ruled out. Lucic did not make the trip to Atlanta, per ESPN. However, Marc Savard did make it, contrary to most reports that he was surpassed by Lucic in the recovery department. Savvy also skated for the first time during Tuesday's practice at Ristuccia Arena. Shawn Thornton missed practice on Tuesday, but should be in the lineup against the Thrashers.
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