Byfuglien leads Thrashers to fifth straight win
How much does Dustin Byfuglien mean to the Thrashers?
Look no further than Sunday’s 4-1 victory over Boston at Philips Arena.
Byfuglien had a goal and three assists as the Thrashers won their fifth straight game.
The legend is growing.
The defenseman leads the team in scoring (25 points) and is tied for the lead in goals (9). He had a goal and two assists in the opening period as the Thrashers jumped to a 3-0 lead. Byfuglien has four goals and six assists in a five-game point streak.
Want more? His goal turned out to be the game-winner, his NHL-leading fifth. Byfuglien also leads all NHL defensemen in points and goals. His four-point performance tied Jaroslav Modry’s franchise record for points in a game by a defenseman, set Dec. 26, 2005.
“The boy is brilliant,” Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said. “He’s special. We encourage our defensemen to jump up. We encourage them to be involved offensively. I guess he really took that to heart. He’s up probably more than the vast majority of forwards.”
Ondrej Pavlec also was in goal for another dominant performance. He stopped 40 shots on Sunday and has been in goal for each win as the Thrashers have outscored the competition 19-3. Pavelec has stopped 154-of-157 shots (.981 save percentage) during the win streak.
“Like I’ve said, we are doing a great job,” Pavelec said. “I can see the first shot and the defensemen are doing a great job to clean the crease. It’s so much easier for me that if I stop the first shot, they will get the rebounds.”
The Thrashers (12-9-3, 27 points) are one win shy of tying the franchise record for consecutive wins, set March 6-16, 2009. After completing a 5-1-0 homestand, the Thrashers begin a three-game road trip in Colorado on Tuesday. The win, the Thrashers’ first against the Bruins since Dec. 29, 2007, moved the Atlanta team past the Bruins (12-8-2, 26 points) for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.
Byfuglien set up the Thrashers first goal, the ninth time in the past 11 games that they have scored first. He rushed into the offensive zone, circled all the way around the rink before snapping a cross-ice pass to Anthony Stewart. Evander Kane tipped in Stewart’s shot on goal 8:32 into the game. It was Kane’s ninth goal, five shy of his total last season.
Byfuglien snapped a wrister past Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask at the 12:22 mark for his ninth goal of the season. Just 2:20 later, Byfuglien stole a puck along the boards and passed to Jim Slater, who beat Rask with a backhander. It was the Thrashers’ third goal in a 6:10 span.
“I wouldn’t say I thought it would be this much, but when you have players that you play with and feel comfortable with things just seem to click and things are going well right now,” Byfuglien said, when asked about the offensive impact he envisioned after the move to defense.
After Blake Wheeler’s second-period goal, which snapped Pavelec’s scoreless streak at 139:59, Byfuglien set up Niclas’ Bergfors’ power-play goal to extend the lead to three goals.
“I think it was a big goal, too,” said Bergfors, who scored his first goal in seven games. “When they got their goal, they came back and we stopped playing for a little bit. We got a break with that power play and put one in going into the break and the third period.”
After the quick start, the Thrashers had to weather a storm from the Bruins, especially in the second period. The Bruins outshot the Thrashers 31-14 in the final two periods.
“They got us running,” Ramsay said. “They got cycling and we didn’t read their plays near well enough. We allowed their defense to become incredibly involved and Pavs was the difference. … He battled like crazy.”
About the Author
Chris Vivlamore is the sports editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has served as reporter and editor at the AJC since 2003.
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