Road Warrior Thrashers take on Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday

November 2, 2:34 PMAtlanta Thrashers ExaminerPhil Foley

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Ondrej Pavelec patrols the net without a goalie mask in Ottawa on Halloween.
(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Fred Chartrand)

The road warrior Atlanta Thrashers move to Quebec for a Tuesday night tilt against the Montreal Canadiens (7:30 PM, NHL Center Ice, 680 “The Fan”).

Atlanta will try to avenge a 2-1 shootout loss to les Habs at the Bell Centre on October 20.

The Thrashers have been a paradox this season, 1-3-0 at home, but 4-1-1 on the road. Atlanta’s lone regulation loss was a 4-2 setback against the Ottawa Senators in Canada’s capital on October 10.

However, the Thrashers … well, Ondrej Pavelec … avenged that defeat with a sensational 50 save performance on Halloween.


The young netminder stymied the Sens in just about every way possible, including making a save sans his hockey mask in the second period.

Ottawa’s lone tally was scored on a 5-on-3 advantage in the third period.

Rich Peverley also tallied in the contest and rides a seven-game points streak into Montreal. He leads the team with 13 points (six goals and seven assists).

Maxim Afinogenov and Zach Bogosian also scored on Saturday as the Thrashers snapped a four game winless streak.

Bogosian has picked up the slack for the injured Ilya Kovalchuk, tallying three goals over the past two games. He has five points and one helper in 10 games this season.

Nevertheless, the Halloween affair was all about Pavelec, who saved Atlanta’s bacon in Ottawa.

Pavelec set the franchise record for saves in a period with 24 third period saves and came within three stops of tying the franchise mark of 53 saves set my Milan Hnilicka on December 18, 2001 against the Boston Bruins.

The Thrashers were outshot, 43-8 over the final two periods.

Atlanta (5-4-1), which has yet to face a team with a losing record this season, moved into second place in the Southeast Division with the win and remains two points out of the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand.

The Thrashers will have just 12 forwards available for this one after the club sent forward Jason Krog back to the Chicago Wolves on Sunday. Krog did not dress in either of Atlanta’s two games last week.

Expect Atlanta to use the same forward lines they used in Ottawa, with either blueliner Ron Hainsey, Mark Popovic, Annsi Salmela or Christoph Schubert taking the night off in the Bell Centre press box.

Hainsey was scratched on Saturday with an undisclosed injury.

Montreal (7-7-0) enters Tuesday after a 5-4 shootout win over Canadian rival Toronto on Saturday night.

The Canadiens blew a two goal lead against the woeful Maple Leafs before Michael Cammalleri and Scott Gomez brought home the victory in the bonus format.

Six of Montreal’s seven wins have come in extra time this season. The club has not faltered in a shootout.
Cammalleri leads the Canadiens with six tallies and is tied with Tomas Plekanec with 13 points on the season.

Montreal is 7-0-2 vs. Atlanta at the Bell Centre since the 2005 campaign.