AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 18
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Same lineup, same result?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John Anderson liked the looks of Tuesday night’s victory at Ottawa so much he didn’t plan to change a thing in the lineup for tonight’s game against Pittsburgh. That means Ondrej Pavelec is back in goal after coming 1:18 and one shot from his first NHL shutout.
Mathieu Schneider participated in the morning skate and is very close to being able to get back in the lineup, Anderson said. Erik Christensen and Kari Lehtonen also are very close. Zach Bogosian, who participated in the skate, still needs some conditioning before he’ll be ready.
The return of Schneider and Bogosian probably won’t be bad news for Nathan Oystrick, who has been excellent as an everyday player since Bogosian’s injury. The Thrashers are committed enough to keeping Oystrick that they told him early this month to move out of the hotel and into something more permanent. Oystrick’s three goals rank him behind only Ron Hainsey among Thrashers defensemen, and his nine points time him with Tobias Enstrom for second behind Hainsey. (Last sentence fixed thanks to the alert commenters below.)
Garnet Exelby sat out the optional skate this morning but was expected to play tonight. That expectation didn’t turn into reality. He has what is being termed a “lower body injury,” and the Thrashers have brought in Scott Lehman from Chicago to replace him. So the lineup won’t be the same as it was Tuesday.
