The Thrashers are a few days removed from a successful weekend which saw them take four of a possible four points with a 5-0 win over Washington and a 2-1 overtime thriller over the Islanders. The Thrashers are looking to carry that success into a battle with the talented Detroit Red Wings.
Hopefully Philips Arena will be a little more alive tonight after drawing just 10,066 fans for Sunday's matinee. The Thrashers are playing their 4th game of a season-high six-game homestand. The Thrashers are 2-1-0 on the homestand so far and finish it up this weekend with tilts against Montreal (Friday) and Boston (Sunday).
Detroit's trip to Atlanta also marks the first match-up of Thrashers rookie Alexander Burmistrov and his idol Pavel Datsyuk. I expect a big game out of the young Burmistrov tonight, who has notched five points in his last six games and has looked much more adept offensively.
One note, as observed by Thrashers blogger Ben Wright: since the lockout, 80% of teams in the top eight spots on Thanksgiving day in the Eastern Conference wound up making the playoffs. Of course, the Thrashers have fallen into that 20% of non-playoff teams twice (2007-2008 and 2009-2010), so maybe it's not the most important thing in the world, but it would still be nice going into the holiday to occupy the 8th spot.
The next three games are a huge test for the Thrashers; playing the top team in the NHL (Detroit is 13-3-2), the Northeast-leading Canadiens, and the Bruins, who occupy the sixth spot as of November 24th. If the Thrashers can find a way to take two of the next three games, in any order, they'll put themselves in pretty good shape. The schedule ahead is quite daunting, but it will be a good test as the team continues to grow and seems to be coming together better.
Keys to tonight's game:
1. Strong goaltending. The Thrashers have given up three goals in the last three games, all of which have been started by Ondrej Pavelec who is 2nd in the NHL in save percentage (.939) and 3rd in goals against (1.93). Pavelec has looked especially solid as of late, and him carrying the workload could be a key to getting Chris Mason some rest so he can contribute down the road. Jimmy Howard will likely get the start for Detroit, so it could come down to an excellent battle of two very young goaltenders.
2. Score first. The Red Wings are 10-0-1 when scoring first, the third highest winning percentage of any team in the NHL. They are a much more pedestrian 3-3-1 when they are scored on first, so the Thrashers should make it a key to have a hot start the way they started against Washington last Friday when they tallied three times in the first period. It is much easier to play from in front than to come from behind, especially against a team of Detroit's caliber.
3. Continue shooting the puck. The Thrashers have improved their shots for/shots against numbers over the past several games and tonight it becomes a huge key yet again. The Red Wings are tied for 2nd in the NHL in shots for with 33.5 per game. They own an NHL-best 9-2-1 record when outshooting their opponents. The Thrashers are a mediocore 5-6-3 when being outshot. The last thing the Thrashers can afford to do is come out and get peppered by a Detroit team that leads the league with 3.67 goals for per game.
NOTES:
Thrashers defenseman Dustin Byfuglien is tied for the NHL lead in GWG with 4 (Stamkos, Nash)...Byfuglien leads all NHL defenseman in goals (7) and is third in points (19)...Bryan Little is healthy and will play versus Detroit tonight...Thrashers defenseman Tobias Enstrom is 10th among NHL defenseman in average time on ice (25:01)...Rich Peverley is 7th in the NHL in face-off percentage (58.7%).
TC
