Lindy Ruff decided since the team is on the road, he wants a guttier line-up so Adam Mair will stay in while Maxim Afinogenov stays out. Ruff also revealed that Max's play had started to tail off. He didn't like how he was overhandling the puck again and over staying shifts You'll hear more from Ruff on the subject tonight on the pregame show with Schopp and the Bulldog starting at 6.
Other scratches are Andrej Sekera, Nathan Paetsch, Andrew Peters, Matt Ellis and Patrick Lalime. The goaltender has a hip issue so Mikael Tellqvist backs up Ryan Miller.
Atlanta has won 9 of 12 games including three of four. It's 3-0 vs Buffalo. Captain Ilya Kovalchuk has four goals and five assists in the five games since coming back from injury. Former Sabre Slava Kozlov has 27 points in his last 23 games. Todd White, who's having a career year has 25 points in 20 games. Kari Lehtonen missed Atlanta's last game with an upper body ailment.
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Morning skate report: No Lehtonen tonight for Thrashers
ATLANTA -- After getting no help whatsoever last night, the Sabres have to grasp at any good news they can. Here's one small nugget: Kari Lehtonen did not skate this morning for the Atlanta Thrashers and won't be in goal against Buffalo tonight in Philips Arena. Lehtonen has won both his starts and posted a 2.33 GAA against the Sabres this season, including 34 saves in the 4-3 shootout win Atlanta posted in Buffalo March 14. He has soreness after hitting his head on the ice in a game last week against the Rangers.
Johan Hedberg will start in Lehtonen's place but he's had a brutal year (11-10-3, 3.62 GAA, .880 save percentage). Still, he has excellent career numbers against Buffalo (9-2-1, 2.57), including one win this year. The Sabres are 0-0-3 against Atlanta and it's pretty clear they can't go winless against the No. 13 team in the East if they have any claim on a playoff spot.
Other scratches are Andrej Sekera, Nathan Paetsch, Andrew Peters, Matt Ellis and Patrick Lalime. The goaltender has a hip issue so Mikael Tellqvist backs up Ryan Miller.
Atlanta has won 9 of 12 games including three of four. It's 3-0 vs Buffalo. Captain Ilya Kovalchuk has four goals and five assists in the five games since coming back from injury. Former Sabre Slava Kozlov has 27 points in his last 23 games. Todd White, who's having a career year has 25 points in 20 games. Kari Lehtonen missed Atlanta's last game with an upper body ailment.
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Morning skate report: No Lehtonen tonight for Thrashers
ATLANTA -- After getting no help whatsoever last night, the Sabres have to grasp at any good news they can. Here's one small nugget: Kari Lehtonen did not skate this morning for the Atlanta Thrashers and won't be in goal against Buffalo tonight in Philips Arena. Lehtonen has won both his starts and posted a 2.33 GAA against the Sabres this season, including 34 saves in the 4-3 shootout win Atlanta posted in Buffalo March 14. He has soreness after hitting his head on the ice in a game last week against the Rangers.
Johan Hedberg will start in Lehtonen's place but he's had a brutal year (11-10-3, 3.62 GAA, .880 save percentage). Still, he has excellent career numbers against Buffalo (9-2-1, 2.57), including one win this year. The Sabres are 0-0-3 against Atlanta and it's pretty clear they can't go winless against the No. 13 team in the East if they have any claim on a playoff spot.
