AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 05
Friday, December 5, 2008
Lots of Kovalchuk
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings from Long Island. I just arrived Friday night. The team has been here since after the Ottawa game on Wednesday. It’s the first time the Thrashers have had back to back days without a game since Nov. 23 and 24, and they get three days without a game after Saturday night. They need it. Let’s see if they get some more hop in their step against the Islanders and then Wednesday at home against the Rangers.
Ilya Kovalchuk played a season-high 25:25 at Ottawa. Only about half of that was with Chris Thorburn and Marty Reasoner. So any notion that John Anderson might be de-emphasizing Kovalchuk was out the window. (He played 22:37 against Montreal, too.) OTOH, his shot is as wild as ever. In the last two games only six of 21 shots he has taken have made it through to the goalie and been on net. Is a strategy of having him blast away from the point on the power play the right way to go? Kovalchuk was on the ice for 9:29 of power play time against Ottawa. Thorburn got 1:17, which may not sound like a lot but is more than half his total for the season.
One interesting stat fact: As much as Erik Christensen has struggled this season, he has been excellent on faceoffs. He has won 100 and lost 85, a 54 percent success rate that’s best on the team among players who have taken at least eight faceoffs this season.
Mathieu Schneider (shoulder) has not rejoined the team. He didn’t travel to Montreal and Ottawa, but I had been told there was a possibility he’d be back for Saturday’s game. The word as of Wednesday night on Kari Lehtonen (back) and Zach Bogosian (leg) was good. I might be able to get an update on Saturday.
