The line-up is all but set, and the Thrashers’ goaltending and defense looks ready to go for the season. Every pre-season game save for the first one (the 5-2 loss to Columbus) has been a one-goal loss, the shots on goal have been moderately good, and the quality scoring chances for the opposition have been severely limited. The vets look a bit off, possibly due to communication issues, but the kids fighting for the last defensive spot are still making Craig Ramsay’s job hard.
That is, except for Boris Valabik, who is a scratch tonight and looks to have played himself out of contention for the position of 7th defenseman. Freddy Meyer, Artus Kulda, and Andrey Zubarev are all neck and neck for that position.
Chris Mason’s starting tonight against a familiar opponent for him. He was 3-2 against the Blue Jackets last season, with a 2.16 GAA and a .916 SV%.
Ben Wright from the Blueland Blog has tonight’s line-pairings:
Forwards:
Ladd- Little- Thorburn
Kane- Peverley- Bergfors
Modin- Burmistrov- Dawes
Boulton- Rissmiller- Stewart
Defense:
Enstrom- Meyer
Kulda- Hainsey
Zubarev- Bogosian
Goal:
Mason
Pavelec