More photos » John Bazemore - AP

3 months ago: Atlanta Thrashers' Ilya Kovalchuk shoots and scores in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 in Atlanta. The goal was his second of the game. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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There's no place like home the road. And the Buffalo Sabres will be acquainted with a seven-game trip in the span of 14 days. It shall begin today in Altanta where the Thrashers have won 12 of 18 lifetime when hosting Buffalo. While the Sabres have avoided bad slumps with only one significant losing streak (four matches), Atlanta's season has demonstrated two opposite tales.

The Thrashers were 18-12-3 before a nine-game slide in the loss column flipped their record upside down. They've won two of three now and hope to regain an offensive stimulation. Buffalo overcame a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 in overtime on Jan.1 when a Tyler Myers dump in took a turn off the boards towards the front of the net for Derek Roy's gift as Johan Hedberg was trapped in the trapezoid.

Ten additional notes on the game below.

• Atlanta's fan base is sweating bullets over the future of captain and franchise performer Ilya Kovalchuk. I've read numerous opinion pieces on this case. Some believe Atlanta has to do everything in their power to keep him for the sake of the team selling seats and keeping them competitive. Others have pointed out that his defensive play doesn't grant a contract with the maximum pay-out. Honestly, there are strong points mentioned on both sides. It's a decision that puts Don Waddell between a rock and a hard place because it could turn out badly either way.
  
• Patrick Lalime fell short of his 200th career victory Saturday. By short, I mean an 11-round shootout that Matt Hendricks finished with a cool move to the backhand. Buffalo did mount a comeback in the third period with two goals to force overtime but let that seventh straight win slip from their hands.
  
• Ondrej Pavelec will make his first ever appearance facing Buffalo and he's confronting a fella named Ryan Miller on the other side of the rink. A .935 save percentage, 2.04 goals against average, five shutouts and 25 wins are on the Michigan native's 2009-2010 resume. Pavelec has lost eight of ten starts.
  
• The Little-White-Russian combination is having a serious breakdown. Altogether, they amassed 200 points last year and have just 57 currently through the halfway point. That's not what Mr. Kovalchuk would consider secondary scoring.
• Buffalo's fourth best penalty-kill has manifested 17 straight kills and allowed one powerplay goal in 30 shorthanded situations. At home, they've gotten it done at 90 per cent and 80 on the road with improvements obviously arising.
  
• Lindy Ruff is being patient with Patrick Kaleta's leg injury as he remains day-to-day. Kari Lehtonen isn't far from a return, Mark Popovic is out and Todd White is doubtful having missed practice yesterday. Nik Antropov is probable and his awareness makes Kovalchuk more pressuring to the defense on the rush. 
• Thomas Vanek scored the second marker against Colorado and added a shootout goal with his patented around-the-puck trickery. Droughts happen to the best of them and the Austrian is doing the little things right like going to the net, skating hard and back-checking. It's only a matter of time before the red light starts flashing.
• Chris Thorburn, Jim Slater and Eric Boulton always compete hard so John Anderson spread them out as a result. Thorburn was matched with Kovalchuk and Rich Peverley, Slater joined Little and Evander Kane and Boulton formed a line with Kozlov and White. The experiment was for one game but it resulted in a 6-1 win over Ottawa, their first two points during regulation at home in well over a month. Antropov's return could force the usual routine from the coach making it short-lived.
  
• Tim Connolly has 14 points in nine games and is 19 shy of surpassing his career-high of 55 set in 2006. He's also second on the team in shots on goal; something we didn't witness very much in recent years.
  
• On the powerplay, Tobias Enstrom is usually the man feeding Kovalchuk for a one-timer. Sounds easy, right? It's anything but because No.17 is constantly shadowed by a shot blocker and Enstrom must send a one-touch pass very quickly in order for the shot to get through. With 36 points, the Swede is resembling the Dan Boyle's and Mike Green's surely. This is the type of defenseman Buffalo hopes Andrej Sekera will eventually turn into. 

Atlanta is desperate for points which is why they are a dangerous breed not to mention their scoring ways on the better days. Buffalo has another streak going for them and that's earning a point in eight consecutive matches going 6-0-2. Playing with a lead for a change would be a terrific starting point for that to reach nine.