Crucial points are on the line for both the Atlanta Thrashers and the Edmonton Oilers as the two teams meet at Rexall Place for the first time in three years on Sunday night.
Edmonton is 4-2-1 (one tie) all-time against Atlanta and that includes a 2-1-1 (one tie) home mark. The two teams last met on Feb. 11, 2004, in Edmonton with the Oilers picking up a 5-1 win.
Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson and Raffi Torres factored in to Edmonton's last win against the Chicago on Friday.
(David Zalubowski/Associated Press)
The Oilers are coming off a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. Shawn Horcoff had a goal and an assist Dwayne Roloson allowed just one goal on 33 shots for the Oilers, who have won two of their last three games but still find themselves eight points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Atlanta will play the third game of a season-long six-game road trip that has seen them go 1-1 so far. The Thrashers lost a close 3-2 contest to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday — going down three goals early in the second period and then rallying late in a furious comeback attempt that just fell short.
Jon Sim and Ilya Kovaluchuk would score against the Canucks and goaltender Kari Lehtonen would make 30 saves in a losing effort for the Thrashers, who have dropped four of their last five games but still lead the Southeast Division by six points over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Sunday's game ends a three-game homestand for the Oilers before hitting the road for a crucial seven-game trip. Edmonton will look to end it on a positive note against a Thrashers team that hasn't beat the Oilers in its last three tries (0-2-1).
Atlanta might be getting a boost on Sunday from some new faces in the lineup as the club is expected to have recently acquired center Eric Belanger and forward Denis Hamel available for Sunday night's game.
Belanger (eight goals, 12 assists in 56 contests) was acquired by Atlanta on Saturday from Nashville for defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski while Hamel (four goals, three assists in 43 games) was picked up off waivers from Ottawa.
