AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 24
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Island Invasion Successful
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Our Thrashers provided us with a little early Christmas present to enjoy Tuesday night…4-2 dumping of the New York Islanders. The victory was the Thrashers’ second successful invasion of The Island this season. Back on the 6th of the moth they really piled it on ‘em 5-1.
And, if you subscribe to the NHL Center Ice package, you actually got to enjoy it with your own eyes! Seriously…if our AHL affiliate in Chicago can get all 80 of their regular season games televised then how come this organ-I-zation cannot at least get all road games aired…hmmmmmmmm?
With the win, Atlanta will enter into the Christmas break with a record of 12-18-4…winners of two of their last three and three of their previous five games.
Johan Hedberg had a very solid game ‘tween the pipes stopping 23 of the 25 shots he faced.
HOLD IT…25 shots on goal for the whole game? Last Saturday Kari Lehtonen was peppered with a massive total of 24 in the third period alone. Monday against Toronto, the Leafs let go 30 shots on Kari in just the first two periods.
Bryan Little netted a pair for Atlanta, including the game winner while Atlanta was on the…POWER PLAY! His goal coming after the IZ-lan-DUHs had wipe away a 2-0 Thrashers lead to tie the score in the third. They were goals numbers 13 and 14 on the season for Little.
Ilya Superchuk earned his 500th and 501st points of his career…first he assisted Little’s game-deciding goal and the second set up Colby Armstrong’s empty netter to finally drop the lid on the Islanders in the last minute of the game. Kovy reached the 500-point milestone in career game number 500 for him.
Nice win for Atlanta…but these are the Islanders. A loss to them woulda really stunk!
Shots Down
So, what do you make of the fact that the Thrashers have held their opponents to under 30 shots on goal in five of the last seven games? Of course, the other two games saw Tampa Bay crack off 39 and Toronto drop 38 on us…and those were the two that Kari started.
Even though this is an encouraging sign in a stat that the Thrashers have struggled with over the years…still, they are just 2-3-0 in those five games in which the defense played solidly.
Happy Holidays Blueland
Atlanta will be idle until Friday night…and so will I. I wish you all a very peaceful and wonderful holiday season. I hope you enjoy the time off, the time with family friends and loved ones.
Merry Christmas…I wish you all the blessings of this season.
Happy Hanukkah…may love and light fill your homes.
And a Wondrous Festivus for the Rest of Us…May you find satisfaction in the Airing of Grievances and may your Festivus Pole have a great strength-to-weight ratio.
See you all Friday on the other side of Christmas!
