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Lightning look to remain unbeaten at home, host Thrashers

Nov 3, 2007 - 2:16 PM Atlanta (4-9-0) at Tampa Bay (5-6-1) 7:30 pm EDT

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) - The Tampa Bay Lightning return home to a place where they have had their only success this season.

The Lightning will host the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday at the St. Pete Times Forum, where they are 5-0-1 this season.

Tampa Bay was outscored, 13-2, in a three-game sweep on its recent road trip, dropping their record to 0-6-0 away from home. The Lightning also were shutout for the first time this season in a 4-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Atlanta is finishing the final game of a seven-game road trip, going 3-3-0 on the trip to this point.

Ilya Kovalchuk leads the Thrashers with nine goals and scored a hat trick in Atlanta's 6-4 loss to Ottawa on Thursday. His 15 points are also more than double the second-leading scorer on the team.

Tampa Bay's Vaclav Prospal leads the team with nine goals, while Brad Richards and Vincent Lecavalier are tied for the team lead with 13 points.

Goaltender Johan Holmquist is 5-3-1 with a 3.01 goals-against average this season but is 4-1-1 with a 2.13 GAA in six career games against Atlanta.

The Lightning have defeated the Thrashers in two meetings this season, outscoring them by a 11-4 margin. Tampa Bay is 6-1-1 in their last eight games against Atlanta and have scored five or more goals in five of those contests.