AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2006 > April > 17
Monday, April 17, 2006
Buck, not puck, stops here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Washington, D.C. — Kari Lehtonen, the No. 1 goalie, was back in Atlanta injured. Mike Dunham, the backup, should have been back in Atlanta, doing anything but whatever it was he was trying to do Monday. Michael Garnett, the backup to the backup, came in, suffered a groin strain, then left.
I’m sorry. But isn’t this where we came in?
“I can’t tell you how sick and tired I am about those groin injuries to goalies,” Bob Hartley said, although he sort of just did.
Funny (or not). But while the Thrashers’ playoff hopes were extinguished far deeper into the season than years past, the script pretty much has the same ending: Nobody can stop a puck, which tends to be a deciding factor in this sport.
The Thrashers lost to one of the league’s dregs, the Washington Capitals, 6-4. Five of those goals came against Dunham. It says something that Atlanta’s net seemed far better protected when empty. Hartley pulled him with 3:13 left for an extra attacker. Neither team scored. But it speaks to Hartley’s self-control that he only yanked Dunham when his first inclination probably was to stone him.
It came down to goaltending. It always comes down to goaltending, which is why for six seasons now, this team has failed to make the playoffs.
Change defensemen, forwards, coaches — it never matters in the NHL until a team can find a franchise goalie and keep him upright. The Thrashers think they have their franchise goalie in Lehtonen. But after tonight’s finale in Florida, he will have missed 41 starts with injuries. That’s half the season.
This game was a microcosm of the season, which isn’t what you want, given the Thrashers have been the league’s most maddening erratic team.
They lost Lehtonen one period into the season opener with a groin injury. They started 10-16-3 in a year when 10-16-3 figured only to be a history lesson, as in, “Remember a few years ago, when this team stunk?”
But 10-16-3 was followed by 13-2-3. Before the celebrating got out of hand, 13-2-3 was followed by a seven-game losing streak. Before the seven-game losing streak turned into a dirge, the Thrashers went 18-7-1.
They aren’t a hockey team — they’re a hallucinogen.
They didn’t stabilize in game No. 81. They touched emotional every peak and valley in the first four minutes.
Bobby Holik, the team’s best player since coming back from an injury after the Olympic break, scored just 11 seconds into the game. But Dunham imploded. He failed to cover a rebound and the Capitals’ Brooks Laich tied it when he poked it into the air over the sprawled goalie’s outstretched glove at 3:52. Just 23 seconds later, Washington took the lead when Dunham let a weak shot from Matt Pettinger get past him. Hartley pulled him.
Suddenly, the Thrashers’ playoff chances were in the hands of a rookie, Garnett, who the week before was in the minors. Garnett allowed one goal, then suffered a groin strain and was replaced before the second period by Dunham, who must have been in a wonderful frame of mind. The Thrashers rallied to take a 4-3 lead, but Dunham allowed three goals on 10 shots to open the third period.
Afterward, rather than simply saying he was awful, he blamed “just funny bounces.” Funny. Hah-hah. Was this any way to run a playoff drive?
“We get off to a good start, then suddenly down by a goal,” Holik said. “We tie it up and come back to take the lead, then suddenly we’re down again. That’s not how you play to get into the playoffs. That says it all. You don’t play like that. It’s unacceptable. You won’t get anywhere in this league giving up leads. We don’t have to look any farther than that first period.”
The Thrashers play their season finale tonight, having already set franchise records for wins, points and goals. But it won’t be nearly enough because they gave up six goals Monday night and 273 this season, give or take a touchdown.
Asked about the Thrashers’ goaltending afterward, Holik, ever the team guy said, “Absolutely no pointing fingers.” He didn’t have to point. It was pretty obvious.
Permalink | Comments (48) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Thrashers / NHL
