Tonight’s loser between the Thrashers and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be in last place in the Southeast Division. Tampa Bay is playing a lot like Ottawa, the team the Thrashers beat Tuesday night. Ottawa has scored the fewest goals in the NHL; Tampa Bay has scored the fewest goals per game. Compared with the Lightning, the Thrashers look like a powerhouse. Other than Vincent Lecavalier (12 goals) and Martin St. Louis (10) nobody on the Lightning has more than seven. Compare that with the Thrashers: Slava Kozlov (14), Bryan Little (12), Ilya Kovalchuk (11) and Todd White (nine).

I need to correct a mistake I made online yesterday. Scott Lehman is still with the team. He’s just not practicing. He has an injury on his right side, suffered about midway through his NHL debut Thursday night. Lehman told me he should be back in the next couple of days. The way I read the CBA, the Thrashers couldn’t have sent him back to Chicago while injured, and they now must keep him on the roster through Dec. 27 because of the holiday roster freeze. That means a week of NHL money for Lehman. His mission on Saturday: Buy some clothes. He was on the road when the team called him up, and he has a suit, a T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

Meanwhile, the lineup tonight looks like Thursday’s, with the exception that Kari Lehtonen is in goal and Mathieu Schneider replaces Lehman on defense. Pairings are likely to be the Swedes, Schneider-Oystrick, Hainsey-Valabik. Schneider has averaged 21:46 in ice time this season but is likely to see significantly less tonight.

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