Atlanta Thrashers (39-26-10, 88 pts) at Pittsburgh Penguins (41-23-10, 92 pts)
Prior meetings:
Thrashers 4, Penguins 2 on December 27th in Pittsburgh
Thrashers 4, Penguins 3 (SO) on December 21st in Atlanta
Penguins 4, Thrashers 3 (OT) on December 9th in Atlanta
The Pens have lost two straight games after surging last week against some of the top competition in the Eastern conference. They'll need to regain their edge if they hope to overtake the Devils for the division lead (and #2 spot in the playoffs).
The Pens have been blanked on the power play in four of the last five games. They'll need to be able to convert with the man-advantage to beat the Thrashers. I'm not sure what it is about teams from the South, but the Pens have struggled lately against the Thrashers, Lightning and Panthers. They've turned the corner somewhat against the latter two, but haven't been able to get things going in the right direction against the Thrashers.
Thrashers blog - Talking Thrash
This one is a nice general Thrashers blog. They note that Jon Sim will miss the game against the Pens. This makes the Thrashers even less of a physical team. The Pens need to take advantage of that, because they certainly ARE a physical team if they want to be.
Early game times this weekend. This one starts at 1:00. I'm looking for a victory. If things fall right, the Devils will lose and the Pens will be tied for the division lead going into Sunday. We can only hope.
Let's Go Pens!
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