Crabb replaces White in lineup

Joey Crabb got the call Thursday night. Get to Atlanta. The Thrashers need you.

Center Todd White had taken a blow to the head against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and unless White makes a very speedy recovery, Crabb will make his NHL debut Saturday night.

“It’s funny how long I’ve been trying and working for this,” Crabb said Friday, seven hours after his 4:15 a.m. wakeup call in Chicago and minutes after his first regular-season practice with Atlanta. “Every [writing] assignment I had to do in elementary school, it was about playing in the NHL. It’s pretty neat.”

Crabb replaced winger Eric Perrin on the fourth line. Perrin replaced Erik Christensen on the top line with Ilya Kovalchuk and Jason Williams, and Christensen took over White’s role centering the second line between Slava Kozlov and Bryan Little.

Crabb, 25, had five goals and five assists in 16 games with the Chicago Wolves this season.

The Thrashers also placed goalie Kari Lehtonen (back) on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 31. Under NHL rules, Lehtonen is eligible to come off injured reserve at any time.