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Kovalchuk, Thrashers look to keep rolling

Nov 10, 2007 - 3:14 PM Carolina (9-4-3) at Atlanta (7-9-0) 7:00 pm EST

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Ilya Kovalchuk looks unstoppable right now, but the Carolina Hurricanes have never really been able to stop him anyways.

Kovalchuk will hope to add to his league-leading 14 goals when the Atlanta Thrashers host the Hurricanes on Saturday in a battle of Southeast Division foes.

The 24-year-old Kovalchuk, who added a goal in Friday's 4-1 triumph over the Florida Panthers, has eight tallies in his last four games. The former Maurice Richard Trophy winner had back-to-back hat tricks earlier this month.

Kovalchuk always seems to fare well against Carolina, tallying 22 goals - including five game winners - and 35 points in 30 career games in meetings with the division rival.

Kovalchuk's play seems to be turning the fortunes of Atlanta, which got off to a horrible start. New coach Don Waddell is 7-3-0 since taking over for the fired Bob Hartley, who lost his first six games with the club before getting the ax.

The Thrashers have won five of their last six contests and have beaten the Hurricanes in four of their last five meetings.

Carlina, however, has been one of the NHL's best teams this season, jumping out to a six-point lead in the division standings. The Hurricanes offense has been excellent, notching a league-best 59 goals this season.

Eric Stahl leads the club with 11 goals, while Rod Brind'Amour has a team-high 15 assists and 21 points this season. Matt Cullen has an assist in eight consecutive contests, collecting one goal and 11 assists in that span.

Hurricanes netminder Cam Ward is off to a good start, posting a 7-3-2 record with a shutout and 2.54 goals-against average this season.