The divisional standings are the same as last we left them - the Tampa Bay Lightning have a stranglehold on the top spot, the Washington Capitals are in a competitive second place, and the Atlanta Thrashers are still in third by a hair. The Carolina Hurricanes are just a point behind them, and face off against the Boston Bruins tonight in Raleigh. The 'Canes are fresh off an extremely successful All-Star weekend and will be hoping to carry that excitement on into tonight's game. A win for them tonight and an Atlanta loss bumps the Thrashers out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Looking at the team's January record, getting bumped out of contention seems be the Thrashers' goal of late. Also not helping are injuries - Tobais Enstrom has a broken finger, Jim Slater still is out with a concussion, Chris Mason is slowly coming back from an ACL sprain, and Evander Kane is just now re-joining the team tonight after a couple of upper body injuries that has seen him miss too many games in the past month.
↵↵↵
↵↵
↵↵