Thrashers looking for more than ending nine-game skid

By Chris Vivlamore

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Thrashers are three losses away from the longest losing streak in franchise history.

Or three wins away from climbing right back into the playoff race.

It depends on what happens in the next week.

The Thrashers, mired in a nine-game losing streak (0-6-3), begin a four-game homestand Thursday against the Rangers. They will also host the Capitals on Saturday, the Senators on Tuesday and Sabres next Thursday.

The franchise record losing streak is 12 games, set in the team's inaugural season. Despite the losing streak, Wednesday’s play began with the Thrashers tied for ninth in the Eastern Conference, three points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.

“Obviously, it’s imperative [to win at home] if we want to get back in the race,” coach John Anderson said. “We’re not that far out of it, but we’ve got to get back in the swing of things. ... We feel like we have to win.”

The Thrashers (42 points) were tied with the Lightning and Islanders for ninth, but six points behind the Senators (48 points) for the sixth spot.

Not so long ago, the Thrashers were fourth in the conference. They haven’t won in regulation since Nov. 30 (4-3 over the Panthers) and that victory came on a goal by Max Afinogenov with less than six seconds remaining. That left the team 14-7-3, the fourth-best record in the East.

While the Thrashers have lost nine straight, they have managed to remain in contention in nearly every loss. Six of the nine losses have been by one goal.

“I think that when you have as many different ways of losing as we have, [the reason] varies,” forward Marty Reasoner said. “It hasn’t always been effort. I can only think of one or two games in the stretch where we didn’t put a consistent effort forward. Besides that, we felt like most of those games we were in.

"Sometimes when you have a young team that hasn’t had success, you find yourself in close games and you don’t know how to take over those games and win games that are tight. I think we are in the process of trying to learn that. We’re hoping that we’ll learn from all those mistakes and turn this around.”

Included in the Thrashers’ nine straight losses was a seven-game road trip that came at the end of a month-long stretch where they played 13 of 17 games away from Philips Arena. They went 0-5-2 on the road trip, collecting two points with a loss in overtime and in a shootout.

The Thrashers have earned three points in the current nine-game skid. They earned just one point in the franchise record losing streak (0-11-0-1), set between Jan. 24 and Feb. 20, 2000.

“We’ve been on the road for seven games and we didn’t get the results we wanted to,” defenseman Pavel Kubina said. “Now we have four home games and it’s huge for us to get back to the basics. Everyone knows what we should do. Some of those seven games, we didn’t play that bad.”

The recent woes boil down to consistency, especially on defense, according to the coach and players. Anderson said his team plays well in stretches then suffers a “brain cramp” that leads to goals.

The Thrashers have surrendered 41 goals in the past nine games, an average of 4.6 a game. They have fallen to 28th in the NHL with a 3.26 goals-against average.

“We have to be better in our zone,” Kubina said. “It starts with defense. We have a great offensive team and we are always going to score goals, but we can’t be giving up four or five goals every game.”

Notes: Top-line center Nik Antropov will not play Thursday, according to Anderson. Antropov, a late scratch in Tuesday’s game against the Penguins, has a hip injury. Anderson said Antropov is “probable” for Saturday’s game with the Capitals. ... Defenseman Mark Popovic, out with a broken foot, said he expects to be cleared to return to practice Thursday. ... Goaltender Kari Lehtonen continued his rehabilitation from two back surgeries with another on-ice practice session following the team workout Wednesday.