Pavel Kubina News

Sean Bergenheim, Blake Comeau and Jack Hillen each scored their first goals of the season to help the New York Islanders break out of a two-game offensive drought and beat the Atlanta Thrashers 6-3 on Saturday night.

The Atlanta Thrashers seem to play every shift at home as though they are down a goal in the final minute of the game.

Raffi Torres scored two uncontested second-period goals and the Columbus Blue Jackets held off the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 on Thursday night.

Each year a round about this time we show up here and find a handful of skaters who are still residing Schnide Islanda that tiny spec of land that sits smack-dab in the middle of the vast expanse of the Ocean of Zilch.

When the Atlanta Thrashers learned last week that captain Ilya Kovalchuk would miss several weeks with an injury, general manager Don Waddell called it an opportunity for other players to step up.

October has come and gone...as has 10 games of the 2009-10 Thrashers campaign. So here are my "good, un-good and ugly" of the season so far.

Eds: APNewsNow. Thrashers 5, Canadiens 4. AP Photo GMH117, GMH116 MONTREAL Colby Armstrong scored 13:14 into the third period and the Atlanta Thrashers earned their first regulation win in Montreal in over five years, 5-4 over the Canadiens on Tuesday night.

Last Thursday the Thrashers outshot the Washington Capitals 41-32 and lost. Last Saturday they outshot San Jose 27-24a and they lost.

Ondrej Pavelec loses his mask, but still stops a shot on Saturday afternoon in Ottawa.

Ondrej Pavelec made 50 saves as the Atlanta Thrashers downed the Ottawa Senators, 3-1, at Scotiabank Place.

The Thrashers begin a two-game road trip in Canada on Saturday, losers of four straight games , the past three coming at home.

As hard as it is to imagine a team being in a make-or-break period this early in the season, that's the situation the Atlanta Thrashers find themselves in these days.

With the Thrashers yet againA in the middle of several days off before their next game, here is a quick look at some of their stats andA numbers so far after eight games played.

Checking in from Buffalo as I wait to return to Atlanta. It took me exactly 30 minutes to check out of my hotel, return the rental car, check in, clear security and arrive at my gate - three hours before departure.

The Dallas Stars had plenty of injuries last season to derail their hopes of making the playoffs for a sixth straight season, but one of the key problems in "Big D" was how little confidence then-coach Dave Tippett had in backup goaltenders Tobias Stephan , Matt Clime and Brent Krahn .

The Little White Russian line is back. Thrashers forward Bryan Little was moved to the second line, joining Todd White and Slava Kozlov , for Thursday's game against Washington.

The Thrashers defenseman is vocal, on and off the ice. Quick with a joke or a good-natured jab at a teammate, he is also good for the well-timed word of advice.

New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur has first-hand experience on Ilya Kovalchuk's talents.

General manager Don Waddell , trying to get the Atlanta Thrashers for the second time, had a busy offseason.

The bad times look to be over for Ilya Kovalchuk and the Atlanta Thrashers. The Russian star has seven goals during the Thrashers' surprising 4-1-0 start to the season.