AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > March > 12
Monday, March 12, 2007
Rest or ride the hot hand?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Goalie Kari Lehtonen made his eighth straight start Monday for the Thrashers, after giving way to backup Johan Hedberg for two games at the end of February. With two days off — the Thrashers did not work out today — before games at Philadelphia on Thursday and home versus the Rangers on Friday, when should we see Hedberg again?
Coach Bob Hartley invoked the name of Ed Belfour when explaining his reasoning for staying with Lehtonen. Belfour, the 41-year-old Florida goalie, has played in 48 games this season and beat the Thrashers Saturday. The 23-year-old Lehtonen has played in 60 games.
Should the Thrashers rest Lehtonen for the stretch run — with a huge game against Buffalo on Saturday — or ride the youngster as long as possible?
Slater on the shelf
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Looks like Jim Slater drew the short straw today. It’s his turn to join Steve McCarthy as a healthy scratch, and Bob Hartley confirmed that Slater is healthy (hey, you never know). Makes you wonder who will center that fourth line (I guess Vigier) although that fourth line hasn’t seen much playing time as a unit recently. You’ll probably see Vigier kill some penalties, and Mellanby skate some with Tkachuk and Kovalchuk (still no nickname for that line yet? We’re creative people, surely we can think of something. John Kincade suggested the Upchuk line, since they make opponents sick. One of you said the Chuk Wagon. I’m not sold yet — there’s got to be something better.).
Garnet Exelby said that the players union decided in a conference call last night to place NHLPA executive director Ted Saskin and senior director Ken Kim on paid leave while they investigate allegations that the association monitors players e-mail. If you’re interested in following the story, TSN.ca has a pretty good story on it, along with links to older stories. Out of curiosity, is this a story you’re at all interested in? Seems like a lot of inside baseball to me, but I can keep you updated if it’s something you want to follow.
Other than that, not a whole lot going on. The Capitals are in town, and this is a team that’s been really struggling since the trade deadline. Barry Melrose was saying on his ESPN podcast, that Washington is a key team down the stretch that needs to get its stuff together because the Caps play so many teams in the playoff hunt. You don’t want to automatically pencil in two points at this point in the season. I’m guessing the Thrashers are fine if they wait another game before that happens.
The key tonight will be a fast start. The Caps, as bad as they’ve been this season, are 18-5-6 when they score first. On the flip side, they’re 6-28-6 when the opposition scores first. So if you’re the Thrashers, you want to go ahead and put this team away early, much like they did against Montreal. If the Thrashers win, expect it to come from a big game from Ilya Kovalchuk, who has 10 points in six games against the Caps this year. In talking to Alex Ovechkin this morning, I learned that he sees Kovalchuk (not Hossa) as the one player the Caps need to stop. Based on those numbers, you can’t blame him for thinking that. Kovy is a plus-5 against the Caps this year. Ovechkin also has 10 points in six games against the Thrashers, but is a minus-1 against Atlanta.
Stat of the day: Kari Lehtonen has never lost to the Capitals (in regulation) during his career. He is 5-0-0-2 (W-L-T-OT) in seven starts.
Oh yeah — I’ve got to fill out my NCAA bracket, and I’m usually pretty good about knowing college basketball, but the Thrashers have kept me busy this year. Any inside tips would be appreciated, because I’m afraid my Michigan State squad won’t be going too far this year.
