AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 17
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Nice Recovery, Opie!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last Friday night when the Bruins invaded Philips Arena, Ondrej Pavelec let in 3 of the first 4 shots taken against him. In his previous start prior to that nightmare, he allowed 5 against the Ottawa Senators on 34 shots. So obviously, seeing that the Thrashers were heading back to Ottawa, it was time to see Johan Hedberg ‘tween the pipes…right?
Nope.
John Anderson decided that Opie was the man to put out there and the young Czech rewarded his coach’s trust with the finest performance from a Thrasher goalie so far this season. He stopped the first 28 shots he faced, allowing only the 29th and final shot to zip by. However, by that time the game was in hand and the only disappointment was that Chris Kelly’s goal denied him, and his team, the first shutout so far this season.
Ondrej’s shutout bid fell 1:19 short, but his team won 4-1 thanks in great part to his performance.
Coming into the game, the Thrashers had gone for 180 minutes and 18 seconds without holding a lead. But at the 10:50 mark of the first period in Ottawa, Slava Kozlov’s tip-in goal from Ron Hainsey’s shot put an end to that nonsense.
Going into the second intermission, Kozzy’s goal was holding up as Opie had turned away all 21 shots the Sens had taken against him to that point. It was a much-needed display of the kind of net minding that teams have to have every once in a while. The kind that buys the skaters time to get things going without having to worry about having to recover from a two or three goal deficit.
It sure didn’t take long for Pavelec’s mates to provide some cushion once the puck dropped to start the third. Colby Armstrong notched his fifth goal of the year…a power play tally at the 2:10 mark. It was the Thrashers second goal of the game while on the man advantage.
31 seconds later…Army scored again.
For Pavelec, this was a great recovery from those previous two starts. In fact, it was his first win since beating the Islanders 4-3 back on November 6 and his first road victory of the year.
So…do we see him again Thursday night when Pittsburgh comes a-callin’ at Blueland or does Anderson return to the Moose?
Power Outage In The Northeast
No…I’m not talking about the hundreds of thousands who have been left powerless from the winter weather up north. I’m talking about the Ottawa Senators offense. After the 4-1 loss to our Thrashers, the Sens have accounted for but 67 goals in 29 games. That puts them on a pace to net about 189 goals for the season.
Last season, Ottawa’s 261 goals were second only to Montreal’s 262. The season prior, their 288 was bested only by Buffalo’s 308. In the 2005-06 campaign Ottawa’s 314 lead the NHL as did two years prior…the season before the lockout…their 262. Also, in 2002-03 their 263 was second behind Detroit’s 269.
The folks up in Canada’s capital are not used to this type of power outage.
Healthy Serving Of Oysters
Nathan Oystrick’s assist on Todd White’s empty netter Tuesday night gives him five points in the last five games. He’s a +3 over those same five games and is playing very solid defense.
The Regina, Saskatchewan native who will turn 26 on the 17th of this month is playing like he does not want to be the odd man out once Mathieu Schneider is healthy again.
Did Ya Get The License Number Of That Truck?
In the second period of Tuesday night’s game, Bryan Little took a wicked hit from the 6-1, 214 pound Chris Neil. Neil politely declined Eric Boulton’s invitation to dance after the hit and ultimately it was Jimmy Slater that defended his teammate’s honor when he went up against Jarkko Ruutu. But Boris Valabik sure seemed as though he wanted to have a word or two with the Senators winger. As Little was helped off the ice, Valabik leaned over the wall and had a few choice words for Mr. Neil.
For those of us who were viewing the game via Center Ice and able to read Valabik’s lips…I’m quite certain that Boris’s very vocal desire of just what it was he wanted to do to Neil was strictly platonic.
