Christian Thomas was acquired in the trade that sent long time prospect Danny Kristo to the New York Rangers over the summer. After a prolonged injury related absence, Thomas made his Bulldogs debut and was an immediate force for the team.
First collecting an assist on Nick Tarnasky’s 6th goal of the season against the Texas Stars in a 5-1 rout, before being held pointless against the Syracuse Crunch at the Bell Centre. However the next night in Syracuse Thomas would explode offensively, collecting his 1st goal of the season and assisting on Nathan Beaulieu’s powerplay goal in the third period while registering 4 shots on net.
The Bulldogs traveled to Rochester the night before (American) Thanksgiving and Thomas was once again an offensive force, collecting assists on Morgan Ellis’ 2nd goal of the year and on Martin St. Pierre’s 4th goal, all the while registering his 2nd goal of the year in a 6-3 loss to the Amerks. After being held pointless against the rival Toronto Marlies Thomas would once again make up for it the following game against the Lake Erie Monsters, by registering assists on both of Patrick Holland’s goals.
If you’re keeping track that’s 8 points in 8 games after missing a large portion of the early season due to injury.
His play on a line with St.Pierre and Erik Nystrom/Steve Quailer/Holland has made the group one of the hottest in the AHL. In addition to his play with St. Pierre, Thomas is also counted on to work the point on the powerplay alongside Beaulieu and it’s working quite well, just take a look at Thomas’ first goal of his Bulldogs career.
Or his 3 point night vs the Amerks
Honorable Mention: Martin St. Pierre
The Bulldogs captain is a major reason why Thomas is scoring at a point per game pace. Since November 19th, St. Pierre has collected 8 assists and 1 goal, placing him at the top of the Bulldogs scoring chart with 19 points on the year, 7 more points than the second leading scorer in Louis Leblanc.
