Lightning  3    Jets  6

Tampa Bay Lightning (0-0-0) at Atlanta Thrashers (0-0-0), 7 p.m.

Sports Network | October 3, 2009

(Sports Network) - A pair of Southeast Division members hoping to make strides in the 2009-10 campaign face off tonight at Atlanta's Philips Arena, where the Thrashers will host the Tampa Bay Lightning in the season-opener for both clubs

These two clubs finished near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings last season, with the Lightning's 66 points besting only the New York Islanders' league-worst total of 61. Atlanta wasn't much better, as its 76 points ranked 13th out of the East's 15 teams.

Both do have reasons for optimism, however. Tampa Bay was able to add to a promising young nucleus with the selection of Victor Hedman, a 6-foot-6, 220- pound Swede considered to be one of the top defensive prospects to come along in years, with the second overall pick of the June draft. Atlanta made an effort to strengthen two of its primary weaknesses in 2008-09 -- a below- average defense corps and the need for a complementary scorer to star sniper Ilya Kovalchuk -- with the offseason acquisitions of veteran blueliner Pavel Kubina and talented center Nik Antropov.

Hedman is expected to immediately upgrade a Lightning backline that allowed the fourth-most goals in the NHL a year ago. To help speed up the 18-year- old's development, the team also brought in fellow Swede Mattias Ohlund through free agency following a steady 11-year tenure with Vancouver.

Tampa Bay still has its terrific 1-2 scoring punch of former Hart Trophy winner Martin St. Louis and four-time All-Star center Vincent Lecavalier, as well as emerging star Steven Stamkos, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2008 draft.

St. Louis led the Lightning with 30 goals and 80 points last season, while Lecavalier had 67 (29 goals, 38 assists) in an injury-plagued 2008-09. The 19- year-old Stamkos overcame a slow start to his rookie year to produce 23 goals in 79 games.

Kubina, a physical 244-pounder who matched a career-best with 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists) for Toronto last season, came over in a trade with the Maple Leafs to add size and skill to an Atlanta defense that surrendered an unhealthy 279 goals (29th overall) in 2008-09.

Antropov, another one-time Maple Leaf who notched career-bests of 28 goals and 59 points with Toronto and the New York Rangers last year, should work well with Kovalchuk, who recorded a fifth straight campaign of over 40 goals when he lit the lamp 43 times this past season.

The Thrashers will not have top goaltender Kari Lehtonen available for the start of this season, however, as the former first-round pick is still on the mend from offseason back surgery. Youngster Ondrej Pavelec is expected to get the first crack at taking over the No. 1 job until Lehtonen returns. The 22- year-old made 11 starts for Atlanta last year and posted a 3-7-0 record with a 3.60 goals against average.

Tampa Bay will be out to stop a nine-game losing streak dating back to last season, which included a 6-2 setback to the Thrashers at Philips Arena in the 2008-09 finale. The Lightning have lost in seven of their last eight visits to Atlanta.

The Thrashers won four of the six overall matchups between these divisional foes last year and are 9-3-1 in this series since the start of the 2007-08 season.