AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > February > 17
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Massive Effort Followed By A Stinker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Win In New Jersey A Perfect 10
Every once in a while during the course of an 82 game season you have to steal 2 points from a game you might have gotten nothing from on any other night. Friday night’s 4-3 wild shootout win in Jersey was just such a game. Most of the time when you spot a team like the Devils and Martin Brodeur a 2-0 lead in the second you have just as much chance to win as you do cutting in front of Rosie O’Donnell in a buffet line…thank you.
But the Thrashers circled the wagons as Ilya Superchuk scored his 40th goal of the season just 50 seconds after they fell behind by a pair in the middle frame. The assists came from Chris Thorburn and Eric Perrin, (the Mix-n-Match, Grrr-Animals line). Todd White’s power play goal tied things later in the second and the teams went into the second break even at two.
Things are looking good, right? Not so fast, Jackson!
Jersey took a lead at the 8:45 mark of the third on a Madden-ing goal that went through the crease and off Garnet Exelby. Then the Devil’s defense and Marty-The Magnificent looked to shut down the Bluelanders.
But Marian Hossa pushed in a Perrin shot that had slipped through Brodeur with 18.1 seconds remaining in the game to send things into over time. It was his third goal in as many games to go with two helpers in that same span.
Whew…just happy to get a point, right? Not so fast, Wilson!
The OT pretty much belonged to Atlanta as they out-shot the Devils 5-1 and finished the last 1:31 on the power play, (maybe they could have been on the man-advantage for the last 2:20, but apparently Ken Klee’s bloody gash across his face was caused by…absolutely nothing at all). At the end of 65 minutes of play, players were gasping for air and resting on a knee.
But the shootout would be a quick end to the game, right? Not so fast, Wojakowski!
After the three rounds of exhibition-style penalty shots the outcome still hung in the balance…as it did after the fourth…and the fifth…and the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth. Not until Pascal “You-Me-And” Dupuis came through in the tenth round and Arron Asham failed to beat Hedberg did it come to an end.
Great game and a great win against a very good New Jersey Devils team! What a way to finally get to 2 games over .500 for the first time all season.
However…
Too Pooped To Play?
OK, another tongue-in-cheek reference there, but truth be told the only thing that smelled on Long Island last night was the play of the entire Atlanta Thrashers team. To follow up the massive effort on Friday night with the 4-1 stink bomb laid on the ice Saturday was, to say the least, un-good.
It would be very hard to pin this ugliness on Kari Lehtonen as the game was lost by the play in front of him. He stopped the first 16 shots he faced before Miro Satan put New York on the board at 14:52 of the first period. Kari kept the Thrashers in the game in the early goings as he stopped 19 of the 20 shots faced in the first 20 minutes and 15 of the 17 taken on him in the second…one on a 5-3 power play.
That’s right, 37 shots by the second intermission. The Thrashers had 10 SOGs for the entire game! Worse yet, the Thrashers had 4 full power plays in the first two periods and had 6 shots on goal…not DURING those man advantages but TOTAL for the 40 minutes. 8 minutes of 5-4 play should net a team 7 or 8 shots at a minimum.
In the end, the Islanders out shot the Thrashers by…sit down for this…by 39.
Folks, the Islanders could have plucked a descent-sized spectator from stands and suited him…or her…up and placed them between the pipes and, given that Atlanta was out shot by a 5-1 margin, the outcome would have still been the same.
After the game Rick DiPietro took a shower more out of habit than necessity.
Odd Stat Of The Game
DiPietro won the game with a .900 SV% and Kari took the loss with a .918 SV%.
