AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2009 > January > 29
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wait…No! We “Own” The Islanders
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Holy Crap! We lost to… who? No, no, no…this can’t be…this is all wrong!
See…the Thrashers are supposed to BEAT the Islanders! They are the team…the one and only team in the league…that the Thrashers own. You know, the way the Rangers “own” the Thrashers this season…and the way the Bruins “own” the Thrashers this season…and the way the Penguins “own” the Thrashers this season…and the way the Flyers have “owned” the Thrashers since the Eisenhower administration.
Yeah…you get the picture.
The Islanders came into the game sporting a rather humble 13-29-5 record…worse than YOURRRrrrr Atlanta THRAAAaaa-shers! They were 2-7-1 in their previous 10 games and had won only twice in their last 12. Their 2-1 win against Anaheim last Wednesday snapped an eight-game losing streak. Atlanta had beaten them in the three previous meetings 4-3, 5-1 and 4-2.
Yes, the Thrashers get four “gimmies” for the season and this was the last of the “breezers”!
Only, the New York Islanders didn’t get the memo.
The Isles entered Thursday’s match scoring goals at a clip of 2.40 per game, (tied for last with Ottawa)…they dropped four on us before the first intermission.
Prior to their game in Atlanta, they averaged 29.1 shots on goal per game…they took 30 in the first 40 minutes, 20 in the first period alone.
Kari Lehtonen started the game. He faced 15 shots in only 13 minutes and 17 seconds, giving up four goals. The way Dan Kamal described the first period action, New York was swarming about the Atlanta net at-will and they were forechecking without fear of any repercussions or reprisals.
The Atlanta Thrashers looked like an All Star defensive unit the first 20 minutes of the game. Oh, not the “talent level” of an All Star blueline…they looked and performed the way All Stars ”play” in the game itself. No checking, no hitting, no challenging, and no intensity.
I swear…if this had been a Canadian based team, or an original sixer, or any team from the northeast, or the Great Lakes region, or…or…well, anywhere… the coach and general manager as well as 14 players may have been shown the door before the second period began!
The last 40 minutes…well, they sucked less. Actually, the Thrashers played quite well. Atlanta out-shot the visitors 29-13 the rest of way after the first intermission, including 15-3 in the third. They had stopped the bleeding after the fourth goal in the first, played to a scoreless draw in the second, then mounted another comeback attempt in the third.
Zach “The Bazooka” Bogosian blasted one off the iron just 26 seconds into the final period…showing that there was actually breath in the lungs of this team. Six minutes later, The Peever put one in the goal…just prior to sliding through it. (For the game, Peverley had a goal and 2 assists). Then, at the 8:36 mark, Marty Reasoner’s nifty wrap-around job brought the score to 4-3.
Halfway through the period, Atlanta had taken 11 shots on goal and New York had just as many shots as I had dates with Debbie Hesslefielder in High School…ZERO! And the Atlanta defense was turning away the Islanders advances nearly as effectively as the way she did mine as well.
The Islanders did not record their first SOG in the third until 7:21 left in it. Unfortunately, it resulted in Kyle Okposo’s second tally of the game.
But…just after the TV camera showed two cute kids wearing face paint with FormerIslesFan and the lovely Lilibeter right behind them… with just under a minute left we all saluted Kaptain Kovy as he scored his 21st…10th in the last 13 games…to pull Le Thrash to within a goal once again.
So…it wasn’t over yet, was it? I mean, after all…these were the New York Islanders. A team that has spun the Suck-O-Meter off its axes more times then…then…well, more times then these Thrashers have this season. And after all…we “own” these Islanders this year…right?
Um…apparently not. Not anymore at least.
About the only thing they Thrashers “own” right now is a butt-load of ping-pong balls in this summer’s draft.
