Oilers at Thrashers
Atlanta, GA – Atlanta Thrashers star Ilya Kovalchuk’s outstanding play certainly doesn’t suggest he has a hobbled right foot.
In matchups with the Edmonton Oilers, though, it’s easy to wonder if there has been something wrong with him.
Kovalchuk, on one of his best stretches of the season for the Thrashers despite lingering injury issues, looks to end his struggles against the Oilers on Sunday.
Atlanta (9-6-1) managed to go 3-3-0 with Kovalchuk sidelined due to a broken bone in his foot, but his return has sparked the Thrashers’ best two-game stretch offensively this season. The All-Star left wing had two goals and two assists in Atlanta’s 7-0 win over Los Angeles on Friday night, one day after posting a goal and two assists in a 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers in his first game back.
Oddsmakers from online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com have made the Thrashers –150 money line favorites for Sunday’s game against the Oilers. Current NHL Public Betting Information shows that 62% of more than 136 bets for this game have been placed on the Thrashers -150.
Kovalchuk, who has 12 goals and five assists in 10 games, is still not 100 percent.
"It’s still going to take me time to heal all the way," said Kovalchuk, whose 309 goals lead the NHL since Atlanta drafted him No. 1 overall in 2001.
Kovalchuk didn’t return after suffering an upper-body injury in the first period of Atlanta’s 4-3 win at Edmonton March 12, the teams’ only meeting last season. He has played at least 18 minutes in his other six matchups with the Oilers (8-9-2), but has been held to one goal and no assists overall.
Maxim Afinogenov, in his first season with Atlanta after signing as a free agent in September, has two goals and an assist in his last two games against Edmonton. He was a big part of the Thrashers’ win over the Kings, matching Kovalchuk with two goals and two assists.
Afinogenov also had a goal against the Rangers, and Kovalchuk likes how the right wing is settling down after nine seasons under Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff.
"Max looks like he got a second life," Kovalchuk said. "In Buffalo, he took a beating by the coach. He’s one of the hardest workers. Every day, he’s smiling."
Kovalchuk and Afinogenov have gotten some help from Evander Kane, the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft. He had two goals and an assist versus Los Angeles and one goal and one assist against New York.
Atlanta, though, may be without center Bryan Little again after he missed the last game due to a slight groin strain. He finished second on the Thrashers with 31 goals in 79 games in 2008-09, but the 2006 first-round pick has been held to two goals and four assists in 15 games this season.
Edmonton lost 3-1 to Buffalo on Wednesday night despite getting Ales Hemsky, its second-leading scorer, back from injury. The veteran right wing had his 13th assist after missing two games because of a shoulder injury.
The Oilers lost for the fifth time in six games (1-4-1), scoring two goals or fewer four times during that span. They converted on one of their seven power-play chances against the Sabres.
"That’s the way it’s been lately – not quite able to get the goal when we needed it," Edmonton forward Patrick O’Sullivan said.
O’Sullivan was one of the few bright spots for the Oilers, scoring their only goal to snap a 10-game streak without one. He also hit two posts in the game.
"The one positive thing is we’re playing a lot harder," he said.
Posted: 11/14/09 9:05PM ET