Bounces are going Armstrong's way

By Chris Vivlamore

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Colby Armstrong calls it "puck luck."

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DARRYL DYCK, AP Thrashers' Colby Armstrong has a goal in each of the past three games.

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The bounces – and there are many in the game of hockey – have been going the way of the Thrashers forward of late.

Armstrong has a goal in each of the past three games. That’s the same total he had in his previous 27 games.

“I think I was playing pretty well. I just wasn’t getting those bounces around the net that I have been the last couple of games,” Armstrong said. “I don’t think it’s anything special that I’m doing or anything different. It’s just getting some puck luck. Hopefully it can continue.”

Armstrong’s latest goal came against Montreal Saturday – his first on home ice – and tied the game at 2-2. The Thrashers went on to win 4-3 in overtime, snapping a three-game losing streak. After defenseman Christoph Schubert fired a puck from the point, Evander Kane took the rebound behind the net and slid a pass in front of the goal. The puck found Armstrong driving toward the net and he converted the prime scoring chance.

“Just going to the net helps obviously,” Armstrong said. “Especially in the last game. We really made an effort to put the puck on the net. I think there are a lot of chances lying around the net. Playing with [Kane] and [Todd White], we’ve just tried to cycle [the puck] and get a few chances toward the net and see what we could pick up. We got a couple of goals. You can’t change that. That’s the way hockey is supposed to be played.

“I’m just kind of hanging around there and some pucks are starting to come in and I’m banging in some dirty goals.”

Armstrong also had goals last week against Calgary and Vancouver. The goal against Calgary snapped a 12-game goal-less streak for Armstrong.

Armstrong is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent following the season. He is below his scoring average from last season, when he had 22 goals in his first full season after being acquired by the Thrashers in the Marian Hossa trade two years ago.

“I think everyone wants to be scoring more,” Armstrong said.

Bounces are part of the game of hockey and not all of them seem fair.

“You go through those things some time,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said. “[Saturday] night, in a span of five minutes, we missed two open nets and hit three goal posts. Sometimes you go through that and it’s hard to explain. You hope eventually things will turn your way.”

And sometimes you make your own luck. The Thrashers have had success when they have gotten the puck deep in the opponent’s zone, cycling to get scoring chances.

“It was very strong [Saturday],” Anderson said of the Kane-White-Armstrong line. “They were one of the lines that were really cycling well in the zone. What it does is soften up the defense. It tires them out if they are chasing us around the zone.”

But, you have to have the puck.

“We have to continuously get pressure,” Armstrong said. “We have to out-work them. Possession is huge. Protecting the puck and playing the game in their end is the way I’ve been taught, especially down low, to hold on to it and use your teammates and get those chances toward the net.”

Popovic has a broken foot

Anderson said Sunday that defenseman Mark Popovic has a broken foot and will miss 3-4 weeks. Popovic has not been put on injured reserve as of yet, but Anderson said a move would likely be made soon. Popovic has appeared in 17 games this season and has two goals and one assist