DEL.ICIO.USLehtonen pulled in Thrashers’ loss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Five months from now, this could look like a victory. Thursday night’s 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders could help win the Thrashers the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft.
It’s obvious Atlanta needs Canadian scorer extraordinaire John Tavares or the man expected to become the next great Swedish defenseman, Victor Hedman.
AP
Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen loses sight of the puck on a shot in the first period. The Islanders recovered the puck on a defelection and scored on the play. Lehtonen was benched after allowing four goals in the first period.
Heck, is there any way the league could change the rules and allow the Thrashers to sign both? Why not send commissioner Gary Bettman a videotape of the first two periods against the team the standings still say is the NHL’s worst?
The Thrashers are only second-worst, though you could hardly tell it from their five scoreless periods after the All-Star break. Dallas, the No. 11 team in the Western Conference, shut them out 2-0 on Tuesday night, and the Islanders led 4-0 at the second intermission Thursday night. Zach Bogosian’s goal 26 seconds into the third period ended a 109-minute, 11-second scoring drought that dated back more than a week.
The Islanders pulled within six points of the Thrashers and have two games in hand. Under the NHL’s draft lottery, the last-place team is guaranteed one of the first two picks, though the five worst teams all have a shot at the top pick overall.
Is there anything else to play for?
“You would think that pride would mean something, and hopefully it does mean something to our guys,” said Thrashers coach John Anderson, whose team has 32 games left.
The Thrashers showed something resembling pride in the third period, when Bogosian, Rich Peverley and Marty Reasoner scored in the first 8:36 to cut the margin to one. But Kyle Okposo scored the Islanders’ fifth goal four minutes later, and when Ilya Kovalchuk scored in the final minute for the Thrashers, it was too late to make a difference.
The Thrashers’ three-game losing streak has included three strong third periods. Sometimes, though, late rallies mean less than meets the eye.
“Maybe it’s because we’re embarrassed. Maybe it’s because the other team sits back,” Thrashers defenseman Ron Hainsey said.
The Thrashers had beaten the Islanders the three previous times they met this season. Of course, most teams have beaten the Islanders, who had a 10-game winless streak in December and an eight-game one in January.
The Islanders seized control early, with a goal by Trent Hunter in the first minute. Okposo, Tim Jackman and Doug Weight soon scored, and Anderson pulled goalie Kari Lehtonen after 13:17. Lehtonen saved only 11 of 15 shots. His replacement Johan Hedberg stopped 17 of 18.
The slow start wasn’t all Lehtonen’s fault. When he left, the Islanders were on pace to put 68 shots on net.
“That was the game right there,” said Peverley, who had a goal and two assists but, along with Kovalchuk, was on the ice for the first four Islanders goals.
The Thrashers are nine points and five places in the standings closer to the best draft lottery position than to the last playoff spot.
“The reality of our standing is that,” Hainsey said. “But that doesn’t cross through to the players that they’re going to start tanking it so we’d get a better draft pick, I can assure you.”
