• WHITE OUT, AGAIN: Center Todd White didn't get to face his former teammates with Minnesota, thanks to a shoulder injury. He missed both games last weekend because of a lacerated elbow, but he also had some pain in his shoulder.

He returned to practice this week and a hit aggravated the shoulder injury while the elbow injury healed. Waddell said White might be held out through the weekend.

"The biggest thing is getting to a point where it won't get worse," White said. "I've got to get it back now to where I can get hit in a game."

So the big question is this: Which teammate hit White in practice to re-aggravate the shoulder injury? "It was either [Mark] Recchi or [Alexei] Zhitnik," White said. "But neither guy is taking credit."

• NASCAR NIGHT: It was NASCAR night at Philips Arena, and fans got to see a few of the stock cars up close. You might think a Thrashers team built mostly of Canadians and Europeans would be without NASCAR fans, but goalie Kari Lehtonen plans to attend Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway as a fan.

"My first three years, I didn't get [NASCAR]," said Lehtonen, a Finland native. "But I just kept watching it and watching it and started loving it."

He said he likes Jeff Gordon but is open to finding a new favorite driver. "I don't have someone I always like to watch," he said.

• FIRST STRIKE: Of the two players on the roster acquired from Pittsburgh in the Marian Hossa trade, Erik Christensen was the first to score a goal.

His nice move against Carolina goalie Cam Ward on Wednesday put him on the board, while Colby Armstrong entered Friday's game looking for his first Thrashers goal. But there was no friendly wager between the two friends on who would score first.

"I know better. I knew if he'd get on chance, he'd put it in," Armstrong said. "For me, it's a different story. I'm just trying to grind one out."