After a rousing win on opening night over the Washington Capitals, who the Thrashers hadn't beaten since March 16, 2009 (which was the sixth game of a franchise record winning streak), the Thrashers travel south to Tampa Bay for their first road game of the season.
The Lightning are a new-look team, most notably adding Simon Gagne in the off-season in a trade with Philadelphia. Former Thrasher Pavel Kubina will suit for the Lightning as well after signing a free agent deal in July. The Lightning figure to be revamped, but are missing one key cog from 2009-2010, when they went 5-1-0 against Atlanta; Antero Nittymaki. Nittymaki dominated Atlanta last year, and always, going 17-0-0 against Atlanta in his career. Mike Smith will get the nod in net tonight for Tampa. Smith was in net for the Thrashers last win over Tampa, which was opening night last season.
What to watch for:
The Lightning will be playing their season opener in front of a rowdy crowd in Tampa tonight. Tampa will undoubtedly have energy and will be playing their first game for new GM Steve Yzerman. Chris Mason will be playing for the second straight night which should make for a compelling match-up; Mason will be leaned upon early as Ondrej Pavelec recovers from his scary and inexplicable fall in the season opener.
What the Thrashers must do to win:
The Thrashers must continue to forecheck the way they did last night and not deviate from the system. The Thrashers penalty killing, which was 3-for-3 last night, must show up in a big way again; the Thrashers legs will probably be tested tonight and as result could lead to a few more shorthanded situations. One of the keys will be to score early and allow Craig Ramsay to roll four lines to alleviate this problem.
Key player:
Chris Mason must rise to the occasion on back-to-back nights here in the early going of the season. Mason performed admirably last night, even though he admitted he "couldn't even focus" after his teammate collapsed in the first period last night. Stealing two points in Tampa would be a fanastic opening weekend.
TC
