PGP Game 26, Isles @ Thrashers 12/5/07 7:00 PM

The Isles will be in Atlanta tonight to take on the Thrashers in game 2 of the season series.

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Big Matchup:

Kovalchuck vs. DiPietro

DiPietro was not in net the last time these two teams faced off, but tonight he will be between the pipes. Ilya Kovalchuck, the NHL's leading goal scorer, has some serious skill, as we have seen in the past game. 34 seconds in to the game, he got one by Wade Dubielewicz for a Thrashers 1-0 lead. That was all the Thrashers really needed to come away with a 4-0 victory. Things can go different this time for the 22 goal scorer. Ricky will definitely be better in net than Dubie, and the offense will have to end up hitting a spark now. When you think Kovalchuck, red lights start flashing in your head. Tonight, I think Rick DiPietro will get the better of the matchup.

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The Islanders, coming off of 3 straight losses, are in need of turning things around.
The major factor in those 3 games, is, of course, the offense.

The 3 losses to the Rangers, Thrashers, and Bruins were absolutely terrible when you look at the stats. They scored 3 goals, and the opposing team scored 11 goals. Oof. That's not so good.

It is really unfair to blame an Islander independently on the scoring drought. No one seems to be able to put it in. Maybe bad luck is the blame, or rough ice, goalies, blocked shots, etc. But scoring chances will go in some of the time. The Isles are generating those, so they just need to have the right aim to finish it.

To continue the ugly statistics, the Isles haven't scored more than 2 regulation goals in the past 13 games. If you don't think that is a problem, then you must be a soccer fan.

Going back to the "old" line combinations tonight, things may go back to the "old" success from the beginning of the season. Maybe that, and a nice road trip with their fathers will give them the boost to put it in again.

My Projected Lines:

Goaltenders
39 Rick DiPietro
34 Wade Dubielewicz

Defensemen
32 Brendan Witt – 24 Radek Martinek
25 Andy Sutton – 4 Bryan Berard
14 Chris Campoli – 8 Bruno Gervais

Forwards
26 Ruslan Fedotenko – 89 Mike Comrie – 13 Bill Guerin
11 Andy Hilbert – 18 Mike Sillinger – 7 Trent Hunter
15 Jeff Tambellini – 63 Josef Vasicek – 81 Miroslav Satan
20 Sean Bergenheim – 10 Richard Park – 12 Chris Simon

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The Thrashers aren't doing the best overall, either. They come in with a record of 12-13-1, and losing 4 out of 5.

At least, for them, they have all-star (or going to be all-star yet again) Ilya Kovalchuck. He is really their only offense, other than Marian Hossa and Tobias Enstrom. Getting a couple points against the Isles last game was nothing to him. We can all see more than that, if he can beat the DP wall.

Will Kari Lehtonen back in net, it will give Atlanta some muh needed goaltending talent. Not that Johan Hedberg is bad, but I'm sure anyone would take Kari over him anyday.

The Thrashers aren't so hot, and neither are the Isles. Both teams are about even in records, with the Isles having a slight advantage in that category.

My Projected Lines:

Goaltenders
32 Kari Lehtonen
1 Johan Hedberg

Defensemen
39 Tobias Enstrom - 28 Niclas Havelid
2 Garnet Exelby – 22 Ken Klee
77 Alexei Zhitnik - 7 Mark Popovic

Forwards
17 Ilya Kovalchuk – 12 Todd White – 18 Marian Hossa
13 Slava Kozlov – 16 Bobby Holik – 27 Chris Thorburn
10 Bryan Little – 11 Eric Perrin – 38 Darren Haydar
36 Eric Boulton – 23 Jim Slater – 9 Pascal Dupuis

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Official Preview:

"The Islanders take to the road this week on a three-game swing against Southeast Division opponents. Tonight at 7 pm, the Islanders rematch against the Atlanta Thrashers at Philips Arena, having lost to them at the Nassau Coliseum on Saturday.

A road trip might be exactly what the Islanders need, having dropped their past three games by combined scores of 9-2.

The lack of offense has caused head coach Ted Nolan to juggle the lines to create some more chemistry. The latest line combinations mirror those that were used earlier in the season during the Islanders' strong run to begin the year.

The trio of Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie and Ruslan Fedotenko, which began the season as one of the best lines in the NHL has been reunited. Mike Sillinger, Andy Hilbert and Trent Hunter, who have played side-by-side a majority of the past two years, but were split up recently, will once again skate together. The Czechoslovakian-born tandem of Miroslav Satan and Josef Vasicek are paired together with recent call-up Jeff Tambellini. Richard Park, Chris Simon and Sean Bergenheim will also see time on the same line.

On defense, Bruno Gervais sat out his first game of the season on Monday against Boston, due to minor bumps and bruises, according to Nolan.

The last time the Islanders went on the road for three games, they came away with a 2-1-0 record. This occurred from November 12-16, when the Islanders were in the middle of their seven-game Atlantic Division run. The Islanders lost to Philadelphia on the 12th, but then won back-to-back games against Pittsburgh and New Jersey on the 15th and 16th.

The Islanders face a Thrashers team, which they lost to 4-0 on Saturday, thanks to goals by Ilya Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa, Slava Kozlov and Eric Boulton.

Since their victory over the Islanders, Atlanta dropped a 3-2 shootout decision against New Jersey. Kovalchuk scored his NHL-leading 22nd goal of the season mid-way through the third period to send the game into overtime. Following a scoreless overtime, the teams met in the shootout.

Brian Gionta scored the lone shootout goal as Martin Brodeur stopped Hossa, Kozlov and Kovalchuk to secure the victory.

Atlanta remained one game under .500 and third in the Atlantic Division standings."