Rangers home to host Thrashers, Kovalchuk in

November 12, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Tonight at the top of the hour, the Rangers return home to host the Thrashers, who again will be without captain Ilya Kovalchuk. Scratch that. Apparently, he’s a go. This game just got a lot harder. Even minus Kovalchuk, Atlanta has played decent hockey thanks to the emergence of Ondrej Pavelec in net and waiver steal Rich Peverely, who has found a home in Hotlanta. While Kovy was out, Peverely has been awesome leading the club with seven goals and 17 points.

The Thrashers also will have familiar face Nik Antropov playing versus his former team after a brief stint that helped the club make the playoffs this past Spring. Though the lanky Russian has no goals, his 13 helpers pace the club. Watch him get his first of the season. Everyone else seems to against us. There’s also Maxim Afinogenov, who after a slow start is beginning to turn it around with 11 points (3-8-11). Consider that he had just 20 in 48 GP his final season in Buffalo and well, it speaks to the classic tease he is.

Atlanta has a decent supporting cast with vet Slava Kozlov, third year man Bryan Little and rookie Evander Kane all up front while a revamped blueline features super soph Zach Bogosian, vet Pavel Kubina and Tobias Enstrom. So, there’s much to like about this up and coming team which should only get better. Though it would help if Kovalchuk re-signed. Things are looking up for the Thrash, who enter 7-6-1 in third in the Southeast.

In other words, the Rangers who are coming off a 1-2 Northwestern Canadian swing in which they actually played better than the record, must come out sharp at the drop of the puck. They’ll be without captain Chris Drury (concussion) and Brandon Dubinsky (broken left hand), who likely is out between four to six weeks. That means others will have to pick it up. Ryan Callahan and Sean Avery are two in particular that must lift their play. While Cally always brings effort, he needs to pop a few goals. As proven last year, he’s more than capable of 20-25 markers. That means he’s got work to do.

As for Avery, blame it on the coach, who obviously has him on a short leash as the fourth line demotion proved. Right now, he’s a shell of himself which really makes ya wonder if Tort is the best fit for his club. Yep. Already. I haven’t been particularly fond of some of his moves. Now, at least he’ll be forced to play gifted rookie Artem Anisimov more.  But it’s still hard to fathom with two bit scrubs Donald Brashear and Aaron Voros on the fourth line that he won’t call in reinforcements. Especially when PA Parenteau (1 G in 2 GP) has nothing left to prove in Hartford and Corey Locke as well.

We’re all for building character during tough times but color us confused. All opponents have to do is blanket Gabby and Prospal which is exactly what many feared coming in. That’s cause our secondary guys aren’t hacking it. Hopefully, Higgs will continue his good play and Kotalik too.

Henrik Lundqvist is back in net after missing two games due to a sore groin. We’ll see if he’s up to speed. With finally not as many games the next two weeks, this is a chance for the Rangers to get it going again. Granted. They have guys hurt but who doesn’t? They’ll get more time to rest and practice. Perhaps that will be a positive.

While this game is on MSG, don’t forget to checkout the Atlantic first place battle between the slumping Pens (Crosby 0 Pts in last 5) and the sizzling Devils (8 straight road wins) over on MSG-+. It should be a good one.