AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 11
Thursday, December 11, 2008
“Close But”…Again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Once again the Thrashers played well…came close, kept coming back, but….
Yup, “close, but”… a phrase that can pretty much sum up the first third of the season so far. This time it was a 3-2 defeat in overtime to the New York Rangers…moving the Thrashers to 1-4 in overtime games this year.
After a scoreless first period, the Rangers dominated to open the second. Johan Hedberg turned away the first seven shots taken on him in the initial two and a half minutes after the first intermission…but at 2:37, Colton Orr beat a stick-less Moose on the eighth one.
However, not five minutes later, Atlanta served their guest a nice plate of Oysters and Crabbs. Nathan Oystrick found the Rangers’ defense at low tide and put a long through-pass to Joey Crabb for a breakaway. The rookie made the most of his chance as he, “went upstairs where they keep the ‘Senate seat for sale’ sign”, as Dan Kamal would put it…for his first ever NHL goal.
“Senate seat for sale sign”…classic!
1-1 after two…and then I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Lew318.
Atlanta found themselves starting the third period ON THE…pause for non-existent power play sponsor… POWER PLAY! However it was the Rangers that capitalized on the situation by notching a shorty with five seconds remaining on Chris Drury’s slashing penalty… taken with 36 seconds left in the previous period. Drury, Moose and Ilya Kovalchuk all made their way into…and through… the goal along with the puck at 1:20 of the third.
But again…Atlanta answered soon after when Boris Valabik found Kovy on the back door for the game-tying goal just a minute twenty-nine later. The assist was Boris’ first ever NHL point and the play was so pretty that the lamp remained lit for five minutes!
From that point on, both Hedberg and Ranger goalie Stephen Valiquette shut down their attackers. Most notably for New York’s net-minder…a fast glove-save off the stick of Jason Williams with a buck and a half left in regulation. Hedberg finished the night stopping 30 of 33 and Valiquette 27 of 29.
Close game…exciting game…well played game…then there was overtime.
Well, all eighteen freakin’ seconds of it, that is.
All you need to know about the extra-time portion of last night’s festivities is that the Rangers took the face off…circled around the back of their net…came up through the middle…then over to the left as Markus Naslund crossed the blueline…he flipped the puck in toward the goal…Scotty Gomez slipped it in past a sprawling Moose.
“Close, but”…again.
Now the Thrashers get to tangle with the Boston Bruins who own the Eastern Conference’s best record of 19-5-4, (.750 points %). They also just had their five-game win streak snapped by Washington Wednesday night…so they should just be in a dandy mood for their home-and-home series with us this weekend.
