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Friday, October 5, 2007
Not a banner night for Thrashers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
If we can conclude anything about the Thrashers’ season opener Friday night, it’s this:
Banner nights. So overrated.
Banners can’t skate, can’t score and can’t check. It’s possible banners can struggle clearing the puck out of the defensive zone and take minor penalties because, like, the Thrashers certainly excelled in those areas Friday.
Game one: Washington 3, Thrashers 1.
They were hoping to build momentum off winning a division title. Instead, they reminded everybody what went wrong in the playoffs.
“The crowd was here, everybody expected great things from us,” Slava Kozlov said. “Unfortunately, we were a little bit sloppy in our own zone and it cost us a couple of goals. We tried to push it. We got one goal. But it was tough to come back.”
There are 81 games left. The only thing the Thrashers did was eliminate any chance of going undefeated. The bigger issue is the way they played. A team shouldn’t go through training camp and the preseason, then open the year at home with such a dud.
The roster has been reshaped with undersized but speedy players. But the team looked merely undersized and overmatched. Speed was supposed to create a better forecheck, a better breakout, more offensive pressure.
There was none of that against Washington.
“I don’t think we had two shifts of a sustained forecheck,” Bobby Holik said.
“We took too many penalties,” Kozlov said, “because they kept beating us one-one-one in the corners.”
Even goalie Kari Lehtonen wondered what was going on early, as his teammates struggled to get the puck from the Capitals and clear the defensive zone. It led to early breakdowns, penalties — Washington had seven power plays, scoring on one — and a 2-0 lead.
“There are times when I try to get guys going,” Lehtonen said. “I think we were not all there when they got the two goals. After that we started playing. But that’s not the way we’re supposed to do it. Everybody should get upset, and I’m sure everybody is upset.”
Openers generally have not been kind to the Thrashers. This makes three straight losses, and six of eight overall (four of five in Philips Arena).
The organization’s hope was that Friday would be different. Never before had the team been coming off a playoff season. Never before had there been a pre-game video tribute, toasting the previous year’s successes. Never before had their been a banner raising.
Down, 2-0? Yeah, that’s happened.
The Thrashers’ only goal was scored by rookie Bryan Little, who flipped home a rebound at 14:54 of the second period. They then killed off a two-man disadvantage for 1:45 and appeared to be gaining momentum. But they failed to convert a power play early in the third, and the Capitals increased the lead to 3-1 when Viktor Kozlov tipped Mike Green’s point shot by Lehtonen at 5:27.
It was difficult enough for the Thrashers to score one goal. Three wasn’t going to happen.
You looked for positive signs. None came from Todd White. Signed in free agency as the new No. 1 center, White looked like a No. 3. Or 4. He fanned on a pass on the power play to end a scoring threat; lost control of the puck and failed to get off a shot with an open net; passed up an open shot in the slot, then passing behind Ilya Kovalchuk; and lost the puck on a rush down the right wing. And all that in the first two periods.
“We weren’t as sharp as we’d like to be, and emotions and all of that stuff — it’s no excuse,” Holik said. “We’re professionals. We gave them the lead in the first period and couldn’t come back.”
Tonight the Thrashers are in Tampa. No banner, no home crowd, just a road game. Can’t be any worse.
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