AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 19
Friday, December 19, 2008
From Un-Good To Good…Back To Un-Good
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For the second consecutive home game, Atlanta outshot their opposition while losing big. Last Friday the total was 33-25 against the Boston Bruins…Thursday the gap was eleven as the Thrashers won the shot total 31-20.
So, in two home games they took 19 more SOG than their opponents but were outscored 13-6. How does a team do that? Look no further than between the pipes.
As un-good as Ondrej Pavelec look on Friday against Boston, he looked equally as good on Tuesday in Ottawa. As good as Pavelec looked Tuesday night in Ottawa…he looked equally un-good Thursday night against the Penguins. Opie went from stopping 28 of 29 and coming within a buck-nineteen of a shutout…to letting in five on just thirteen Pittsburgh shots.
But he did come within 54 minutes and 28 seconds of a shutout.
Pavelec allowed two of the first four shots to get by him. But what was even more frustrating to me came in the second… just after Bryan Little took a Todd White pass and beat Marc-Andre Fleury, making the score 4-2 and pseudo-bringing Atlanta back into contention.
How-EV-errrrr…the goal announcement wasn’t even half completed when it was rudely interrupted by Philippe Boucher’s shot from a-far slipping through Opie’s pads. His view was not obstructed and that shot has…HAS…to be stopped in order to allow the team to build on any momentum that could have been gained after Little’s goal.
After that, Johan Hedberg then turned away the remaining six Penguins shots. Unfortunately…he was called upon about two goals too late.
Evgeni Malkin’s empty-netter at the end made the score 6-3 and sent about half of the… wink-wink-nod-nod…15,124 in attendance home happy campers.
But…A Good Time Was Had In 119
Regardless of the outcome, the evening was not a total disappointment for your blog host. I did have the pleasure of sitting with the Professor of Hockyology…the author of many novelesque pieces on this forum…Brendan! Yup…and the two of us were also joined in section 119 by the bull-horned one…RStroz.
And to the three 14-ish year old young ladies who sat just in front of us…and to their parents…I humbly apologize. We do hope that the ice cream that we bought for them in some way, shape, matter or form makes up for the damage to their eardrums.
Weekend Reading Assignments
The Vancouver Canucks raised the No.16 jersey to the rafters Wednesday night in honor of Trevor Linden. Linden played in 1,382 NHL games for Vancouver, Montreal, the Islanders and Washington amassing 375 goals and 492 assists.
George Johnson writes that…even though it’s normally players auditioning for teams…right now it’s the Florida Panthers that are auditioning to keep their defenseman Jay Bouwmeester past this season.
Dreamy optimism gets hit head-on with harsh reality in Ottawa, writes Puck Daddy. My, my…I guess it takes getting pounded 4-1 by the Thrashers to bring a team and it’s fan base to the river of cold-hard reality and forces it to drink.
Ryan Dixon of The Hockey News has a gift for every NHL team this holiday season. For Atlanta…”A reality check, so they can finally embrace the fact Ilya Kovalchuk won’t be a Thrasher beyond next season and act accordingly”.
Talk about your virtual “lump-o-coal”.
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