Time: Saturday, 21 November, 2009 at 7:00 PM ET
League: NHL – United States of America

Last 10 matches: Pittsburgh 4-6-0; Atlanta 6-3-1
Afinogenov we know about, but Ilya Kovalchuk is second on the Thrashers in points despite playing only 12 games so far, largely because of the tear he’s been on since recovering from a foot injury. In four games, he has four goals and seven assists for a total of 11 points. Entering Friday’s action, his 13 goals put him only two behind League leaders Alex Ovechkin and Marian Gaborik with 15 each. To compare, Sidney Crosby has the same number of points compiled over 22 games.As turgid as the power play has been for the Penguins, it enjoyed some success against the Thrashers last year at 8-for-20 (40 percent). Malkin collected a point on seven of those goals. Kovalchuk has three goals and two assists in his last 10 games versus Pittsburgh. Thrashers scheduled starting goalie Johan Hedberg is seventh in the NHL with a .923 save percentage.
For the Penguins, the situation is improving with Gonchar and Talbot back, and getting better still with defenseman Brooks Orpik (lower body) cleared for full contact in practice and defenseman Kris Letang (shoulder contusion) back on the ice without contact. Center Tyler Kennedy (groin) is still expected to return next week. Mark Eaton (back spasms) is not expected to miss any time, while Alex Goligoski and Chris Kunitz (both lower body) remain on IR. The Thrashers are mostly healthy, save for goalie Kari Lehtonen (back), who is still weeks away.
Things are a little different now. The Thrashers team that the Pens so easily swept away last season is a lot stronger. It’s reasonable to forget a 21-10 scoring advantage over those last five Pittsburgh wins when you look at Atlanta’s recent offensive numbers. At 3.61 goals per game, the Thrashers are second in the NHL to the Capitals. They haven’t scored fewer than three goals in a game since Oct. 10, and lit the lamp 18 times in a four-game winning streak that ended with a shootout loss to the Bruins on Thursday night.

The Penguins are slowly getting back on track, with home wins over the Bruins and Ducks before getting thumped in Ottawa by a 6-2 score on Thursday, their fourth straight road loss. We will post results of this match, as soon as posible.. stay with us.