The Thrashers are ringing in 2011 in New Jersey tonight with their last back to back fo 2010 - though not last back to back of the season. The Thrashers have four back to backs in December alone, but where last season the Thrashers seemed to stumble in the second of the two games, this season they have a secret weapon: Ondrej Pavelec. Pavelec, who won his first career shootout last night against the Boston Bruins, plays better the less turnaround he has. From ESPN.com:
| 0 Days Rest | 1 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.63 | 16 | 15 | .938 | 1 | 0 |
| 1 Days Rest | 15 | 15 | 918 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 1.96 | 509 | 479 | .941 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 Days Rest | 7 | 6 | 391 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2.30 | 205 | 190 | .927 | 0 | 0 |
| 3+ Days Rest | 3 | 3 | 183 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2.62 | 104 | 96 | .923 | 2 | 0 |
A goalie who hasn't been playing well regardless of how much rest he has is New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. Brodeur is 5-18 with a 3.00 GAA and a .886 SV%. He allowed four goals on fifteen shots, before being relieved by Johan Hedberg. Moose, who allowed three goals on seven shots in the loss against Atlanta, is having a steady year considering the position that the Devils are in. He's ben in net for the team's other 9 wins.
Tonight's goalie comparison (Pavelec won't be given the start on back to back nights):
Even match up. Where the teams aren't evenly matched is defensively - the Devils have exactly one positive player - Bradley Mills, who has played four games and is a plus one. The Thrashers' leader in +/- is Bryan Little, who is a +13. It helps, though, that the Thrashers have scored 126 goals this season - New Jersey has scored half of that - only 64 goals for the entire season. Their top goal scorer is Jason Arnott with nine (Ilya Kovalchuk has eight). The Thrashers? Dustin Byfuglien, who has 14. Five players have more than ten goals on the Thrashers - none have cracked that point on the Devils.