manny
01-13-2006, 01:06 PM
Blues-Thrashers Preview
GAME: St. Louis Blues (10-26-5) at Atlanta Thrashers (21-18-6).
TIME: Friday, 7 p.m. EST.
The return of rookie goaltender Kari Lehtonen has sparked the Atlanta Thrashers.
They'll shoot for a season-high fourth straight win when they host the hapless St. Louis Blues.
Lehtonen is 4-2 since being activated from injured reserve on Dec. 30, including wins in three straight starts. Lehtonen hurt his groin in the Thrashers' season opener, forcing him to miss 38 games.
His backup, veteran Mike Dunham, is healthy again too. Dunham was activated from injured reserve Thursday. He hasn't played since hurting his groin on Nov. 12 at Carolina. With two solid netminders, Atlanta can now take advantage of one of the league's top offenses.
The Thrashers boast three of the NHL's top nine scorers, including Ilya Kovalchuk, who is second in the league with 65 points.
Marian Hossa scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Thrashers to a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Wednesday. It was Atlanta's first shootout victory in five tries.
Lehtonen stopped Steve Sullivan, Paul Kariya and Marek Zidlicky in the shootout to earn his fourth win.
"We found another way to win and it was a special one because we got to taste victory after a shootout," Thrashers coach Bob Hartley said.
St. Louis has lost four straight, including the first three of a five-game road trip.
The Blues outshot the Florida Panthers 38-32 on Thursday, but lost 3-1.
Rookie Kevin Dallman scored his first NHL goal for the Blues. St. Louis, which has the worst record in the league, has scored a total of two goals in its last three games.
"At least we got chances," said Blues wing Scott Young. "When you're not getting chances, that's really bad. We showed signs of life tonight."
STANDINGS: Blues - 25 points, 5th place, 36 PB, Central Division. Thrashers - 48 points, 2nd place, 12 PB, Southeast Division.
TEAM LEADERS: Blues - Mike Sillinger, 14 goals; Doug Weight, 28 assists and 37 points; Jamal Mayers, 88 PIM. Thrashers - Kovalchuk, 33 goals and 65 points; Marc Savard, 42 assists; Andy Sutton, 78 PIM.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Blues - Power play: 14.6 percent (40 for 273), 26th in NHL. Penalty killing: 80.7 percent (201 for 249), 24th. Thrashers - Power play: 21.1 percent (67 for 317), 4th. Penalty killing: 79.1 percent (231 for 292), 28th.
GOALTENDERS: Blues - Jason Bacashihua (3-4-0, 0 SO, 3.95 GAA); Curtis Sanford (4-8-1, 2, 2.79). Thrashers - Lehtonen (4-2-0, 0, 3.02); Dunham (4-3-1, 1, 2.10).
2003-2004 SEASON SERIES: Tied, 0-0-1.
LAST MEETING: Jan. 28, 2004; Tied, 1-1. At Atlanta, Jeff Cowan scored with 2:24 left in regulation to earn a tie for the Thrashers.
ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Blues - 5-13-2 on the road; Thrashers - 12-7-4 at home.
— Associated Press
manny
01-13-2006, 01:08 PM
Atlanta Thrashers vs. St. Louis Blues
January 13, 2006, 7:00 p.m. ET | Philips Arenahttp://www.atlantathrashers.com/resources/News/main_logo_55.jpgTonight's Game
The Thrashers wrap up a two-game home stand tonight against the Blues ... Atlanta begins a two-game road trip at Dallas on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 8:30 p.m., and will visit Los Angeles on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 10:30 p.m., ET
On the Air
Tonight's will be televised regionally, with JP Dellacamera and Eliot providing the call ... Dan Kamal and Billy Jaffe will provide the call of tonight's game for the Thrashers radio network, including flagship station WCNN AM 680 The Fan, and FM partners, WLJA FM 93.5 (Ellijay/Jasper) and WMGP FM 98.1 (LaGrange) ... Jaffe will host the half-hour pre-game show, beginning at 6:30 p.m., and will host the post-game show with Darren Eliot from the Bank of America Club following the contest ... The Atlanta at Dallas game will not be televised locally, but will be carried by the Thrashers radio network.
Radio Blueland
Darren Eliot and Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution hosted the latest segment of Radio Blueland, the Thrashers official online radio show ... To hear the show, or listen to past segments, please click here (http://www.atlantathrashers.com/Multimedia.aspx?Levels=3|0|0&CID01=0c1b83b1-6936-4e3f-b4a8-1fd3ffdd82bf).
Season Series
Tonight's game is the lone meeting between the Thrashers and the Blues in 2005-06.
Lifetime Series
Atlanta has notched a 1-5-1 all-time record against St. Louis, including a 1-2-1 mark at Philips Arena ... Atlanta posted an 8-4 victory over the Blues on Jan. 21, 2003, setting the team record for most goals in a home game.
Career Leaders
Vyacheslav Kozlov leads all Atlanta players with 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) in 47 career games against St. Louis ... Scott Mellanby has earned 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 32 games and Marc Savard has notched 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 16 contests against the Blues ... Ilya Kovalchuk (two goals, one assist) and Kozlov (three assists) have three points apiece against St. Louis with Atlanta.
Versus the Central Division
Tonight's contest is the final of consecutive contests, and the last of five games against Central Division opponents this season for Atlanta, 3-0-1 in those contests ... The Thrashers have earned seven out of a possible eight points in those games ... Ilya Kovalchuk tops Atlanta with five assists and seven points against Central Division teams in 2005-06 ... Vyacheslav Kozlov (three goals, three assists) and Marc Savard (three goals, three assists), have registered six points apiece in those contests.
St. Louis Connection
Scott Mellanby spent over 3½ seasons with the Blues from 2001-04 ... St. Louis Assistant Coach Curt Fraser was the Thrashers head coach for 3½ seasons from 1999-2002.
Current Thrashers Injuries:
Man-games lost: 171
- Ronald Petrovicky suffered an oblique muscle strain at Carolina on Jan. 4.
- Bobby Holik is out with an injured foot.
- Brad Larsen is day-to-day with a groin injury.
- Peter Bondra is out with a groin/abdominal injury, and was placed on injured reserve on Dec. 8 (retroactive to Dec. 4).
Thrashers Injury Recap
Player/Injury/Dates Out/Missed Games
Serge Aubin Flu-like Symptoms 12/22 1
Peter Bondra Groin 12/5-current 18
Garnet Exelby Leg Bruise 10/5 1
Mike Dunham Groin 10/14-10/27 6
Groin 11/16-1/11 28
Shane Hnidy Dislocated Shoulder 10/5-10/15 6
Bobby Holik Foot 1/2-current 5
Brad Larsen Groin 12/22-current 11
Kari Lehtonen Groin 10/7-12/23 35
Scott Mellanby Groin 10/27-11/5 5
Midsection 12/5-1213 5
Ronald Petrovicky Oblique Muscle 1/6-current 3
Steve Shields Knee 11/9-11/19 6
Knee 11/26-1/2 19
Patrik Stefan Oblique Muscle 11/1-11/16 7
Andy Sutton Flu-like Symptoms 12/13 1
J.P. Vigier Foot 10/20-11/19 14
Total man-games lost: 171
Thrashers Recent Player Movement / Team Activity:
Jan. 12, 2006: Activated goaltender Mike Dunham from injured reserve (groin), and reassigned goaltender Michael Garnett to Chicago.
Jan. 10, 2006: Recalled forwards Ramzi Abid and Karl Stewart from Chicago (AHL).
Jan. 8, 2006: Reassigned forwards Ramzi Abid and Karl Stewart to Chicago.
Jan. 6, 2005: Recalled left wing Ramzi Abid from Chicago (AHL).
Jan. 4, 2005: Activated goaltender Steve Shields from injured reserve (knee), and assigned him to Chicago for conditioning.
Jan. 2, 2005: Recalled forward Karl Stewart from Chicago (AHL).
GAME NOTE INFORMATION
Historic Victory
Marian Hossa tallied the lone goal in the shootout on Wednesday night to lift the Thrashers past Nashville, 4-3, for their first-ever shootout victory ... It was Atlanta's ninth trip to overtime this season, and its fifth visit to the shootout ... The Thrashers have also won twice in overtime, dropped two games in overtime and have lost four games in shootouts this season.
Streakin'
The Thrashers victory over the Predators was the team's third consecutive win, which is tied for the longest streak of the season ... The club won three in-a-row from Nov. 9-12 and Dec. 13-17 ... The Thrashers won a team-record four consecutive games twice in 2003-04: Nov. 16-23 and Dec. 6-12.
Turning it Around
Atlanta, which went 3-8 in October, has posted an 18-10-6 record since Nov. 1 ... The Thrashers have now won 11 out of their last 16 games (11-2-3), notching 25 out of a possible 32 points in that span.
Great to be Home
Entering tonight's game, the Thrashers have notched a 12-7-4 record at Philips Arena this season ... The club is now 10-3-4 over its last 17 home games ... Atlanta enters the game on a team-record tying, three-game home win streak ... The team has posted three-game win streaks four times in team history, including Dec. 1-8, 2000, Nov. 12-23, 2003, and Dec. 6-12, 2003.
January Hot Streak
This month, the Thrashers have posted a 5-1-0 record for 10 points ... The team's best January came in 2003 when the club posted a 7-6-2-0 record for 15 points ... The Thrashers collected 12 points with a 5-8-1-1 in January 2002.
Quickest to 20 Wins
With Saturday's 4-3 victory at Pittsburgh in the Thrashers' 44th game of the season, the club has reached 20 victories the fastest in team history ... It is the fourth time in team history that Atlanta has reached 20 wins ... The team won a franchise-record 33 games in 2003-04, but did not earn its 20th victory that season until the 47th game.
Charting the Numbers
The Thrashers has notched 48 points (21-18-6), which is second among all recent NHL expansion teams through 45 games in each club's sixth season ... Nashville earned 50 points with a 20-16-6-2 record through 45 games in 2003-04 ... Here's a look at the other recent expansion teams through 45 games in their sixth seasons: Florida, 17-16-12 for 46 points in 1998-99, Ottawa 19-20-6 for 44 points in 1997-98, Anaheim, 17-19-9 for 43 points in 1998-99, San Jose, 17-23-5 for 39 points in 1996-97, and Tampa Bay, 9-28-8 for 26 points in 1997-98 ... The only one of those clubs quicker to 20 wins in its sixth season was the Predators, who earned their 20th win and 46th point in their 42nd game in 2003-04.
Holding Second Place
Atlanta enters tonight's game ranked second in the Southeast Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference with 48 points ... The team, which shares eighth in the conference with 21 wins, is looking to qualify for its first trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Reaching 40 Shots ... Again
The Thrashers took 41 shots in the win over Nashville, the fifth time the team this season and the 16th occasion in team history that the club has taken at least 40 shots in a game ... The team has notched a 4-1-0 record in those contests in 2005-06 ... Atlanta has won seven games, tied four others and dropped five games in team history when reaching 40 or-more shots.
Positive Difference
Atlanta has now taken at least 30 shots in 13 out their last 16 contests, and 30 times overall ... The Thrashers set a record with 31 games of 30-or-more shots in 2000-01, including 12 through 45 games that season ... Atlanta finished with 24 games of at least 30 shots in 2003-04, and had 25 contests with 30-or-more shots in 2001-02 ... The team has out shot its opponents 1,431 to 1,315 this season, marking its best shot differential after 45 games (plus-116) in team history ... Prior to this season, Atlanta had not own a positive shot differential past the 11th game of any previous season.
Making History
The Thrashers enter tonight's game with a plus-six goal differential (161-155) ... The team leads the Southeast Division, ranks second in the Eastern Conference and third in the NHL with 162 goals ... The team has owned a plus or even goal differential 12 times this season.
Burning Bright
Atlanta has scored more goals (162) at the 45-game mark, an average of 3.6 per game, than at the same point during any of the previous five seasons ... The team tallied 116 goals at the same point in 2002-03 when the club set a franchise, single-season record with 226 goals (an average of 2.48 per game) ... The Thrashers recorded 126 goals after 45 games in 2003-04 when they finished with 214 goals (an average of 2.61 a game), the franchise's second-highest single-season goal total.
Topping the NHL
The Thrashers lead the NHL with a team-record 67 power-play goals, and rank fourth in the league at 21.1% on the power play (67-for-317) ... The team also leads the league with 38 power-play goals on the road, and ranks third in road power-play percentage at 23.6% (38-for-161) ... The club is 13th in the NHL on the power play at home at 18.6% (29-for-156).
Double Up
The team enters tonight's game with at least two power-play goals in a game on 21 occasions this season, including a team-record five consecutive contests from Jan. 1-7 ... Atlanta went 11-for-36 on the power-play (30.5%) in those games ... The Thrashers have recorded a team-record tying four power-play tallies on five occasions in 2005-06.
Eying PP Record
Atlanta has tallied a power-play goal in a season-high six consecutive contests, one away from matching the team record ... The team is 12-for-46 on the power play in that span (16.1%) ... The Thrashers have recorded power-play goals in seven consecutive games on three occasions in team history.
Weekend Warriors
The Thrashers have registered a 14-7-2 record in games played on Friday, Saturday and Sundays this season ... The club improved to 7-11-4 in contests played on Monday through Thursday with Wednesday's victory.
Road Success
The squad improved to 4-2-0 over their last five road contests with Saturday's 4-3 victory at Pittsburgh ... The club has posted a .535 winning percentage over its past 14 games on the road (7-6-1).
Quite a Week
Atlanta had four out of the top five point producers over the week of Jan. 2-8 ... Ilya Kovalchuk, who led the NHL with eight goals and 11 games in four games last week to help Atlanta finish 3-1-0, was named the NHL's Offensive Player of the Week ... He won the award for the second time this season (Nov. 7-13 was the first time), and is among three Thrashers to earn that recognition this season ... Marian Hossa was named NHL's Offensive Player of the Week for Dec. 19-25, 2005, and Marc Savard earned that award for the week of Oct. 5-9, 2005 ... From Jan. 2-8, Hossa was second among all NHL players with nine points (three goals, six assists), while Savard shared third with eight points, including a league-best seven assists ... Vyacheslav Kozlov was fifth in the league with seven points, and shared third in the NHL with four goals.
Among NHL's Best
Three of the NHL's top eight scorers hail from the Thrashers, including Ilya Kovalchuk, who shares the league lead with 65 points (33 goals, 32 assists) in 41 games (an average of 1.58 points per game) ... Marc Savard ranks third in the league and second on the squad with 62 points, including a career-high tying 42 assists, and Marian Hossa is third on the team and eight in the league with 55 points (22 goals, 33 assists) ... Kovalchuk tops the NHL with 33 goals, 18 power-play tallies and 38 power-play points, and shares fifth with 20 power-play assists ... Savard shares second in the league in assists, and is third in the NHL with 23 power-play assists ... Hossa is tied for the league lead with four short-handed goals ... Hossa and Kovalchuk rank fourth and fifth in the league with 186 and 182 shots, respectively.
New Record for Kovy
Ilya Kovalchuk enters tonight's game on a season-high tying seven-game point streak (10 goals, seven assists), including a career-high and team-record six-game goal streak (10 goals) ... Vyacheslav Kozlov held the previous franchise record with a five-game goal streak from Dec. 3-12, 2003 (five goals) ... Kovalchuk has recorded at least one point in 15 of his last 16 games (16 goals, 14 assists), and registered at least one point in 25 out of his last 31 games (28 goals, 24 assists) ... The Tver, Russia, native has earned a point in 31 out of 41 games overall (33 goals, 32 assists) ... He leads the club with 18 multiple-point games and nine multiple-goal games ... Kovalchuk, who has also collected six multiple-assist contests, has notched point streaks of at least three games five times this season.
Streaking with Savard
Marc Savard, who enters tonight's game on a team-record tying and season-high, nine-game point streak (five goals, nine assists), has now notched points in 16 out of 17 games (nine goals, 16 assists) ... The native of Ottawa, Ontario, has matched the record set by Vyacheslav Kozlov's earlier this season from Oct. 25-Nov. 12 (three goals, 11 assists) ... Savard, who picked up career bests with 23 goals, 42 assists and 65 points with Calgary in 2000-01, registered a career-high 10-game point streak from Feb. 14-March 5, 2000 (six goals, eight assists) with the Flames ... Savard, who has tied his career high for assists this season, has collected 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists) over his last 30 games ... He is third on the club with 15 multiple-point games, and is first with 13 multiple-assist contests ... Savard has now notched point streaks of at least four games on four occasions this season.
Mighty Marian
Marian Hossa brings a season-high tying six-game point streak (five goals, eight assists) into tonight's game ... The native of Stara Lubovna, Slovakia has notched at least one point in 32 out of 45 games (22 goals, 33 assists) this season ... Over the past 38 games, Hossa is averaging 1.26 points per game with 48 points (19 goals, 29 assists) in that stretch ... He ranks second on the team with 16 multiple-point games ... Hossa has recorded five point streaks of at least four games in 2005-06.
Kozzie Lights Lamp
Vyacheslav Kozlov , who scored his 15th goal of the season on Wednesday for his 600th NHL point, has recorded five goals and nine points over his past six games ... Kozlov has notched at least one point in 27 out of 45 games overall (14 goals, 27 assists), including at least one assist on 20 occasions ... Kozlov has registered eight multiple-point contests and five multiple-assist games ... He has collected point streaks of at least three games on three occasions this season.
Olympic Bound
Thrashers forwards Peter Bondra and Marian Hossa (Slovakia) and Ilya Kovalchuk (Russia), and goaltender Kari Lehtonen (Finland) will represent their countries at the upcoming 2005 Winter Olympics ... Executive Vice President and General Manager Don Waddell will serve as general manager and Assistant Equipment Manager Joe Guilmet will be an assistant equipment manager for Team USA.
Did You Know?
Ilya Kovalchuk skated in a team-best 28:48 TOI on Wednesday, the 11th highest total for a forward in team history ... Marc Savard has now reached 20 goals on three occasions in his NHL career ... The Thrashers are 10-5-0 this season and 25-37-13 all-time in games against teams that played the night before ... St. Louis played at Florida last night.
Tracking the Thrashers
- The Thrashers have tallied the first goal of the game on 20 occasions in 2005-06, and are 14-4-2 in those contests ... Ilya Kovalchuk leads the team with five goals that were the first of the game, followed by Marian Hossa with four.
- Kovalchuk leads the Thrashers with 10 goals and 16 points in January ... Hossa has notched 12 points (five goals, seven assists), and Marc Savard has added 11 points (three goals, eight assists) this month.
- Kari Lehtonen enters tonight's game on a three-game win streak, one win away from tying his career high set from March 19-April 3, 2004.
- Team captain Scott Mellanby has earned at least one point in six out of his past eight contests (two goals, six assists), including assists and points in three straight contests (one goal, three assists).
- Greg de Vries (six goals, 17 assists) and Modry (five goals, 18 assists) share the lead among the team's defensemen with 23 points apiece.
- Niclas Havelid leads the team and ranks 12th in the league with an ATOI of 25:03 ... Kovalchuk is second on the team, second among NHL forwards and 43rd overall at 22:50, de Vries ranks third on the club and is 50th in the NHL at 22:50, and Jaroslav Modry ranks fourth on the Thrashers and tied for 65th in the league at 21:52.
- Hossa ranks second among the team's forwards and 82nd in the league with an ATOI of 21:14 ... He leads the club's forwards with an average of 26.1 shifts per game, followed by Savard at 25.9.
- Havelid's average of 30.9 shifts per game tops Atlanta and is 11th in the NHL ... de Vries is second on the team and tied for 24th in the league with an average of 28.8 shifts a game ... Andy Sutton ranks third on the club with 27.2 shifts per game, which shares 67th in the NHL ... Modry is fourth on the team and tied for 87th in the league with an average of 26.4 shifts a contest.
Comparing Their Numbers
Ilya Kovalchuk leads all NHL players with 112 goals and 43 power-play tallies since the start of the 2002-03 season ... In that span, Marian Hossa is third with 103 goals, and is tied for fourth with 37 power-play tallies ... Kovalchuk ranks third among all NHL players with 218 points, and Hossa shares fourth with 217 points since the start of 2002-03.
Mellanby Fifth Among Active Players in Games
Thrashers captain Scott Mellanby ranks fifth among active NHL players with 1,326 games played ... Here's a look at that list:
Player/Team Games
Dave Andreychuk (TB) 1,639
Steve Yzerman (DET) 1,478
Chris Chelios (DET) 1,438
Luc Robitaille (LA) 1,397
Scott Mellanby 1,326
Brendan Shanahan (DET) 1,311
Luke Richardson (CBJ) 1,281
UPCOMING THRASHERS PLAYER MILESTONES
Player/Milestone
Serge Aubin One point away from 100
Greg de Vries One assist away from 100
Scott Mellanby 13 points away from 800
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