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Kings-Thrashers Preview

Nov 13, 2009 - 5:32 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Los Angeles (11-6-2) at Atlanta (7-6-1), 7:30 p.m. EDT

Ilya Kovalchuk's injury may not get much worse, and having their all-time leading scorer back on the ice is certainly an improvement for the Atlanta Thrashers.

One night after Kovalchuk made an unexpected return from a broken foot, the Thrashers open a five-game homestand against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday.

The Thrashers' all-time leader with 307 goals and 570 points, Kovalchuk was expected to miss three to five weeks after injuring his right foot when he was hit by the puck during a 4-3 loss to San Jose on Oct. 24.

Atlanta (8-6-1) went 3-3-0 without Kovalchuk, but the three-time All-Star suddenly became available Thursday and scored a goal while adding two assists to spur a 5-3 win at the New York Rangers.

He hadn't been expected to travel for the game, but was allowed to do so after X-rays came back clean.

"They told me I couldn't hurt it any worse, so I decided to go," said Kovalchuk, who will wear a boot for three weeks. "It's part of the game: You get hurt, you're wearing those weird shoes."

Kovalchuk, who has 10 goals and two assists in nine games, appeared to be in sync with his linemates Thursday. The left wing and center Nik Antropov assisted on an empty-net goal by right wing Maxim Afinogenov to seal the victory.

"Our line was clicking real well," Kovalchuk said. "We all speak Russian, so it's kind of cheating because they can't understand what we're saying."

Kovalchuk will now try to carry some momentum into Friday. He has four goals and four assists in his last five games against the Kings (11-6-2), including two goals and an assist in a 7-6 shootout win at Los Angeles on Feb. 16, the lone meeting between the clubs last season.

The Thrashers haven't hosted the Kings since a 6-2 victory on Jan. 16, 2007, when Kovalchuk notched two assists.

Los Angeles bounced back from consecutive losses Wednesday with a 5-2 win at Carolina, which suffered its 13th straight defeat.

"We were aware of (the Hurricanes' losing streak), but we had our own pressure on ourselves to get off our two-game skid," said captain Dustin Brown, who had an assist. "It was about getting back to playing well."

Despite dropping their previous two games, the Kings are in the thick of the Pacific Division race early on after missing the playoffs for a franchise-record sixth consecutive time last season.

Much of Los Angeles' success stems from Anze Kopitar's outstanding start.

The center had two assists against Carolina to increase his NHL-leading point total to 30. His 14 goals are tied with Washington's Alex Ovechkin for the league lead. He's posted 12 goals and 12 assists in the Kings' 11 victories compared to two and four, respectively, in their eight defeats.

Kopitar has four goals and five assists in the last five games overall. He had two of each against the Thrashers in February.

The Kings may have Jon Quick back in net after he rested Wednesday in favor of Erik Ersberg, who made 22 saves to earn the win.

Quick has lost his last two starts, allowing seven goals on 54 shots, but is 10-5-2 with a 2.69 goals-against average on the season.