A season of disappointment officially came to an end for the Thrashers.
Out of the playoff race for the past eight days, the Thrashers dropped a 5-2 decision to Pittsburgh on Sunday at Philips Arena in the final game of the regular season. Atlanta (34-36-12, 80 points) heads into another offseason early as the franchise failed to make the playoffs for the 10th time in its 11-year history.
“Playing these last games out of the playoffs is absolutely no fun at all; especially when as a team we put ourselves in a position to make the playoffs and down the stretch our playoff push just wasn’t good enough,” said goaltender Chris Mason, who stopped 15 of 19 shots.
There are uncertain times ahead for the Thrashers. The team is for sale and could be moved as the search for new owners or investors continues.
The Thrashers got off to an encouraging start, holding a 19-11-5 record on Dec. 20 and leading the Southeast Division. Then came the stretch that cost the team a realistic chance at the postseason. Over the next 30 games they went 7-17-6 with only three regulation wins.
The unofficial end came on March 19, when the Thrashers were drubbed by Buffalo 8-2 after a victory would have pulled them within two points of a playoff spot. The official end came April 2 with a 3-2 loss to Boston.
“It’s a disappointment,” said Thrashers captain Andrew Ladd, who won the team MVP award and finished with 29 goals. “We had a goal and were unable to reach it. Everybody in here should realize it’s not good enough and bring more to the table in different ways.
“If you look at the young, talented guys we have in this room, it’s there if we decide to play the right way. It’s great to be talented, but, if you don’t play the right way, it’s not going to work.”
Despite not reaching the playoffs, Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said he was encouraged by the progress of his team. There is plenty to fix but he feels there is a bright future -- whether his team plays in Atlanta or another city next season.
“My thoughts about the season are that we played much better than our record, that over an extended period of time we were better than the opposition but we found some ways to lose that were incorrect," Ramsay said. "The details that we’ve talked about fell apart. There were games in which we were badly outplayed. There were only a couple. … We made some key errors and got playing as individuals. When we skate, I believe we can compete with anybody. I’m thrilled to be coaching so many of these guys because of their work ethic and their willingness to participate at this level in what we were trying to accomplish.
“I feel real good about the chances for the ongoing success of this team.”
The Penguins played without five regulars who have accounted for 103 goals this season.
They scored four second-period goals en route to Sunday's victory despite playing without Sidney Crosby (32 goals), Chris Kunitz (23), James Neal (22), Evgeni Malkin (15) and Jordan Staal (11).
The Thrashers opened the scoring 4:07 into the game on a goal by Ladd. The opener came 28 seconds into a 5-on-3 power play.
It was all downhill from there.
Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis, Michael Rupp and Mark Letestu scored in a span of 11:49 in the second period to take control of the game.
Tim Stapleton scored a third-period power-play goal to pull the Thrashers within two. However, Mike Comrie ended it with an empty-net goal with 1:28 remaining.
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