AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > January > 12
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Penguins, Red Wings And Hot Wings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
March Of The Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins marched into Philips Arena Saturday night following Philadelphia and the Panthers earlier in the week, (that’s a lot of “P”-ing at Blueland) and the two teams put on quite a performance before a pulsating populous on-hand. In the end, it was Bluelanders who were pleased with the hometown players and proud of the way they produced on the power play…(OK, enough with the “P” references). The 3-2 shoot out win before a revved-up sellout crowd of 18,545 was one of the most exciting and memorable games I have seen lately.
Early on it was the Kovy and Sid Show as the two perennial scorers tallied the games first three goals. Ilya Kovalchuk extended his lead in goals scored to 37 with a powerful blast off the post while the Thrashers were on a power play. It came at 9:31 of the opening period and tied the score at one apiece. After Crosby put Pittsburgh back on top 2-1, it was Bobby Holik coming through again on the man advantage.
But the game ended with Kari Lehtonen shutting down Crosby and Co. as he stopped all 4 shots he faced in the shoot out. Former Penguin Mark Recchi scored the only goal in the exhibition after Conklin had also stopped the first three shots he faced, one by swiping away the puck off the goal line after Marian Hossa’s shot struck iron and deflected off the net-minder.
Oh, and I still detest the shoot out as a way to determine the winner of a game…only tonight, not quite so much.
Now some other items:
Oh, How Sweet It Is!
It was a great win made even sweeter by Carolina’s loss to Colorado. The Hurricanes blew a 4-2 lead halfway through the third allowing the Avalanche to score 3 goals in a 5:34 span. Atlanta now has as many wins as the Canes, (22).
Also helping the Thrashers cause was the Panther’s 5-3 loss to Tampa Bay and Buffalo’s 3-2 shoot out loss to New Jersey. Atlanta once again finds it’s self two points off the division lead and remaining in the conference pack just a point shy of the two New York teams who are tied for the eighth and final playoff spot.
A Case Of Goalie Envy
The Pen’s goalkeeper, Ty Conklin, came into the game 9-0-0 with a .945 SV% and a 1.79 GAA. It’s not often a goalie goes through regulation and OT giving up only 2 goals and his GAA goes UP!
Atlanta’s Leaders
Counting the empty-netter against Buffalo Sunday, the last 5 goals scored by Atlanta have come from The Captain and the man wearing the superhero cape, Ilya Superchuk. Kovy leads the league in scoring and Holik is leading the team by way of backing up his words with his on-ice actions. Oh, and Holik’s introduction of Sid-the-Kid to the boards early on was pretty nice, too.
Oh, Now THERE’S a Thought!
Atlanta’s win over Pittsburgh was engineered in two main ways. First off, they found a way to get the puck on goal. Thirty eight times they forced Conklin to make a save. That is the second highest shot production of the season after the 40 they fired on Ottawa’s net last month. The other magic ingredient was the defense allowing the Pens offense very few second chances as they cleared the puck out of the defensive zone very well and limited the amount of time they spent in our end. Too many times opposing teams can file for Homestead Exemption in our defensive zone, so this was good to see, indeed.
Hopefully, these are signs of things to come.
Not Doing Their Homework
Thursday night in the shoot out, Florida scored two goals on Kari with on high shots over the blocker. Saturday the Penguins took four unsuccessful shots against Lehts. The first three they were stymied glove high and an extended right skate stopped the last shot. Nothing attempted over the blocker.
Brendan’s Blueland Blog-casts
If you’re unable able to make the games at Blueland or not able to see them on the tube…tune into the BBB, Brendan’s Blueland Blog-cast! He does a great job of in-game commentary and will keep you up-to-speed as to the happenings and goings-on during the game! Even if you watching the game, it’s always good reading!
So, catch all the action right here on this site for Thrashers hockey on the BBB!
Detroit Red Wings
Tuesday night the Thrashers wing their way northward to play the Red Wings of Detroit. The Wings sport the best record in the NHL as well as being the best home team. In fact, Thursday night’s 6-5 SO win by the Minnesota Wild was only the fifth time all year a visiting team has come out of The Joe with two points…and only three times has that been done in regulation.
Defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, forwards Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk as well as goalie Chris Osgood will be in Atlanta for the NHL’s All Star game. The two forwards are the second and third in total points in the Western conference going into Saturday’s action.
Speaking Of Wings
All this talk of wings has me hungry! So, seeing as Tuesday night’s game is a big test for our Thrashers…and that it is being played near the home town of our blog’s favorite pest, Pucks-N-Snot…what say we gather at an eating establishment and gnaw on some hot wings whilst viewing our Thrashers beat the “snot” out of the Red Wings, (crossing fingers). Call it The Pucks-N-Snot Open Invite, if you will!
I have a great place in mind that is located near the 75/285 interchange in Smyrna. It has an area that can accommodate 25 or so of us and we can be separated off from the rest of the place, so we can be as rowdy as we want!
So, if your “in” for some good food…good hockey…and good times, RSVP with your post below, with who many will be in your party, and I will e-mail you the info.
