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Blue Jackets look for more in Atlanta
NHL.com
BLUE JACKETS (7-4-0) at THRASHERS (6-4-2)

TV: Fox Sports-Ohio, SPSO.

Last 10: Columbus 7-3-0; Atlanta 5-3-2.

Season Series: This is the lone meeting between the teams. They last faced each other on March 11, when Columbus earned a 2-1 victory at Nationwide Arena. Kristian Huselius had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets.

Big Story: Columbus is beginning to find its way under rookie coach Scott Arniel, as the Blue Jackets have won seven of their last 10 games and are climbing up the standings in the Central Division. Tuesday's 3-0 win against Montreal pulled the surging Blue Jackets within a point of first place.

"Each game we're getting better and better," Columbus captain Rick Nash said. "We finally had lots of chances (on Tuesday). Power play, 5 on 5 … hopefully it just keeps on getting better."

Team Scope:

Blue Jackets: Mathieu Garon hasn't received a ton of playing time in the early going this season, but he certainly makes the most of it when he gets the call from Arniel. Garon stopped all 29 shots he faced on Tuesday night and improved to 3-0 with a 1.15 goals-against average.

"I've been maybe a little lucky," Garon said. "When I've played, we haven't played a bad game this season. It feels good. We have to win at home. If we want to be in the top eight teams (making the playoffs), we have to be dominant here at home."

Thrashers: Atlanta received contributions from everybody on Wednesday night. Chris Mason made 52 saves, Fredrik Modin scored a pair of goals and Niclas Bergfors scored the game-winner in the Thrashers' 4-3 victory against the Florida Panthers at the BankAtlantic Center.

"I knew I was busy, yeah. I had some constant work," Mason said. "The guys held on and we did a good job in the last five minutes."

Who's Hot: Nash and Derick Brassard each have 4 goals and 11 points for Columbus. … Bergfors extended his career-high point streak to five games on Wednesday night.

Injury Report: Huselius (foot) and Mike Commodore (thumb) are day-to-day, while Ethan Moreau (broken hand) is out indefinitely. … Thrashers forwards Bryan Little (concussion) and Patrice Cormier (broken foot) and defenseman Freddy Meyer (upper body) are all on injured reserve. 

Stat Pack: Through 11 games, the Blue Jackets are the only NHL club that hasn't scored more than three goals in any game. But the Jackets' 3-0 win over Montreal on Tuesday was their first win by more than two goals this season.

Puck Drop:  "That's a lot of shots, and Mason did a terrific job. Everybody's aware of the chances they had. But we scored one more goal than they did. It was a good team effort with Mason leading the way. We need to see what we can do differently because we can't have our goalie face 55 shots every night." -- Thrashers forward Fredrik Modin after Wednesday's 4-3 win at Florida




SCHEDULE

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AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
V. Prospal 48 12 18 3 30
M. Letestu 46 13 14 7 27
M. Gaborik 47 12 15 -3 27
F. Tyutin 48 4 18 9 22
B. Dubinsky 29 2 18 2 20
N. Foligno 45 6 13 6 19
J. Johnson 44 5 14 -5 19
A. Anisimov 35 11 7 -6 18
C. Atkinson 35 9 9 9 18
R. Umberger 48 8 10 3 18
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
S. Bobrovsky 21 11 6 .932 2.00
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