Sunrise, FL (AP) – When the holiday break is over, the showdown is set to occur between the current leader in the East, the Florida Panthers, and the hottest team in the league, the Atlanta Thrashers.  The Panthers will look to end the Thrasher’s winning streak, which currently sits at 9 games. 

Both squads won’t be at full strength for the game.  The Panthers will be without the services of one of their top defencemen, Ryan Whitney, as he is still recovering from an injury.  While the Thrashers don’t have any injuries, Tim Gleason is very tired and seems to be dehydrated.  It’s assumed that he’ll play in the key game, but what impact he’ll have remains to be seen.  The other fatigued player on the Thrashers roster is superstar goalie Dominik Hasek.  Hasek’s only played 2 games this season for the Thrashers after being picked up in a trade, and has put up good numbers during those 2 games.  How much impact the fatigue will play into Hasek’s game, assuming he gets the start, will also be found out once it’s game time. 

It’s clear that both teams want this win badly.  The Thrashers certainly want to be able to hit double digits on their current winning streak, and in addition to retaining top spot in the East, the Panthers just as badly want to be able to be the team to put an end to the Thrasher’s streak.  In addition to wanting to stop the Thrashers' winning streak, the Panthers would also like to put some further distance between themselves and the Thrashers when it comes to points.  Over the course of the winning streak, the Thrashers have made significant advancements up the standings.  The Panthers already have enough to do in their division by keeping the surprisingly strong Hurricane and the "nobody has a better team than me" Lightning and bay and would rather keep the Thrashers down.  6 days from now we’ll find out who comes out victorious.