The Atlanta Thrashers played well without the recently traded Ilya Kovalchuck, but bowed in overtime 3-4 to the Colorado Avalanche
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Thrashers at Avalanche 2-10-10 Game Notes & Analysis
The Atlanta Thrashers like to throw it on net, so Craig Anderson better be on his game tonight. Atlanta is missing Ilya Kovalchuk but they’re still 6th in scoring… which doesn’t happen unless everyone’s scoring.
Apart from the obvious need for the defense to step up and limit the shots, there’s so little history between these clubs there isn’t much to bring up before the game gets started.
1st Period Plays & Analysis
2nd line is taking all of the period-opening face offs at half ice these days. No different tonight.
Avs get the first good pressure of the night about a minute in, but only able to get one weak shot on net by Hannan from the left side blue line.
Didn’t take long did it? Thrashers already just sending the puck to net and trying to out work the Avs on the rebound. Three solid shots on goal in the Thrashers’ first pressure of the game, and one more rebound try misses the net.
1st Five Minutes of the period is owned by the Thrashers, with much more time spent in the Avs zone than theirs. They aren’t really moving the puck very well after the first pressure, though. Other than some pretty good keep away in the Neutral Zone, they haven’t been able to keep the puck on offense for more than 20 seconds & few shots.
Penalty by Atlanta first of the game.  Thornberg interference.
Avs put together a terrible PP, zero shots. Thrashers flying around the defensive zone playing some pretty good, harassing defense. Only got the puck cleared for a line change once; maybe the Avs can wear out the legs of the secondary PK line.
Avs earn nice shot on first pressure after power play, Tucker from the left circle. Avs winning the early -battle along the boards.
Antropov steals the puck in the Neutral Zone, he and Bergfors two-on-two against Hannah and Foote on the rush… Bergfors slows up with the puck in the slot, Antropov to the net, Bergfors shot: Thrashers GOAL (Bergfors from Atropov 8:54) Nice decision to wait for the shot by Bergfors rather than shooting too early to play for the rebound.
Paul Stastny & Chris Stewart move in on the rush up the right side… draw the defense over, Clark jumps up in the slot: Avalanche GOAL (Brett Clark from Paul Stastny & Chris Stewart at 9:40) Stastny & Stewart have to be respected by now, and Clark read it perfectly, wrist shot from 10 feet, dead center.
2nd Five Minutes is pretty much all Avs, with the PP more good pressures and a goal on the rush. The Thrashers? One shot, one goal.
The Thrashers will not let up the consistent shooting. Just shot, after shot, after shot no matter which line is on the ice. Not Crashing the net on every shot, just taking every chance to put the puck on net.
Craig Anderson comes up with huge save on red line drive off the left side with two more net crashers. The puck was in the crease for 8 seconds, but somehow no Thrasher could get a stick on it.
Stastny gets suspect penalty: Holding. I think holding is the most subjective of penalties of the minor penalties. I see it more than it’s called, and when it’s called I agree with it only about half the time.
3rd Five Minutes is the Thrashers again… other than Anderson. They aren’t trying to set anything up, they just send it to the net and then work hard to keep the puck in the zone. So far Andy has been on top of anything. Our top line has to start playing like a top line and get the puck out of the defensive zone.
Good PK by Avs, one lousy shot allowed from the blue line, and 20 seconds spent in the Thrashers’ zone right in the middle of the penalty.
Avs clear the puck right at the end of the penalty and earn a two-on-one with Stastny coming out of the box.  No shot block in front by the lone defender, great job on defense.
Slater takes the puck out of the Thrashers’ zone all the way down the ice, but gets stuck behind the Avalanche net, loses the battle on the boards, and haplessly trips the Colorado defender in the aftermath. Talk about a rough break after some good play.
Much better PP the second time around. 4 shots, all of them good chances. Hedberg had to be on his game to stop a left-circle slap shot from Stastny. Stas is having a great game, 1 assist, 2 shots so far, and he’s moving between their defenders like they aren’t there. Keep it up.
4th Five Minutes of the period is all Avs. Great Kill, Good PP, and one more 50-second pressure in the last minute and a half.
The 1st period was back and forth with control of the game, and each team creating good consistent pressure in turn. 23 shots (11 Atl, 12 Col) and two goals in the first not entirely unexpected with the two chaos-styled teams here. What is surprising is with all the great pressure and shots generated the only goals are rush goals. Right now it looks like anyone’s game.
End Period.
2nd Period Plays & Analysis
4th line gets the face-off and promptly gives up a rush and a shot.  Why change what’s working Sacco?
Then the top line comes off the bench after the clear and lets the Thrashers come right back into the zone and generate two decent looking shots on a 30 second pressure. No clear. Andy holds on to the second shot. Avs look flat in the second.
Avs can’t get it past the Neutral zone; Atlanta is in total control right now. Three pressures of 30 seconds in a row, 1 shot in each.
Thrashers Penalty, happened off the screen. Pretty far away from the puck for Hooking, Afinogenov. Maybe this will wake up the Avs.
First 1:30 of the PP was pretty much the same story as the rest of the period; more time spent on the Avalanche end than the Thrashers end. Last 30 seconds were solid… two shots generated though one was a blue line try that got through a crowd. Not the best of chances.
1st Five Minutes saw the Avs have a decent PP but otherwise it was all Atlanta. The Avs are skating better now that they are deeper into the period.
Lucky bounce in the Neutral comes right to Oduva. Quick pass up the right board to Reasoner, fed ahead to Little, two-on-one keeper wrist shot from 8 feet: Thrashers GOAL (Little from Reasoner & Oduya at 5:32) Nice shot, top shelf far side. Tough for Andy since he had to be ready for the pass.
Avs come out after the Goal and Duchene skates right to the puck and commits a Hooking penalty… what’s going on Avalanche?
Funky call: Goaltender Interference on Atlanta plus Diving by Colorado. How can there be Goaltender Interference and Diving on the same play ref? Matching Minors.
Penalty on Clark for holding. Low and behold I bitch about the Holding penalty, and Clark commits a holding penalty I agree with. But in any case, Avs are letting the flat play get to them and are getting sloppy and aggressive rather than getting smart and aggressive.
2nd Five Minutes is all Thrashers with the goal and the Avs parading to the penalty box.  One lucky bounce hurt the Avalanche, but tree stupid penalties, especially the Diving & Holding the Avs down right now. Avs need to focus.
O’Rielly, short-handed breakaway. He goes right at Hedberg, wristshot stickside, Hedberg saw it all the way. Exciting play though.
Little drives on Andy, should have been a goal. Andy may as well have been making a snow angel. Just barely gets his stick on the puck to stop the shot. It could be the save of the game if the Avs come back.
Interesting PK: good pass earns a one-on-none breakaway, but then no one gets in Little’s way at the other end seconds later, the Thrashers have the game well in hand unless something changes.
Another good pressure by Atlanta earns a wrister from the right circle feet away, Andy just barely get across the net make the save.
Another shot and the rush, this time via a great keep in by the last attacker in the zone. Slap shot form left circle feet right on net.
3rd Five Minutes belongs to the Thrashers with numerous good pressures and shots generated. The Avs can’t get anything going.
Penalty on Hannan, Interference. The Avs are playing terribly in this period. When will it end?
Red line drive from the left side, the puck gets in between Andy and the post, drifts down the goal line and is cleared by Foote at the last second. Called a goal by the ref.  Overturned as replay showed it never fully crossed the line. I thought it wasn’t a goal since no one on Atlanta celebrated when the ref blew the whistle. Very telling.
Thrashers on the rush as the period comse to a close, Clark lays a nice hit on Cain to slow down the play and then come across to the center on the final shot to block a slap shot from 18 feet in the slot. Nice to see some effort once in this period.
The final stretch of the period saw an Overturned Goal and some nice defensive effort, but first and foremost it saw a mostly awful period end. Thank God.
End Period.
Well, that was atrocious.  The Avs have to get a better forecheck going if they’re ever going to get the puck out of the zone.  And I don’t know if they realize it, but they should actually try to stay out of the box rather than get in it. All things considered, to have played that poorly and only be down one goal is a moral victory. Sacco better be giving them an earful.
The Thrashers on the other hand are playing very well, especially in the Neutral zone.  For about the first 8-9 minutes they change to a low-key offense for them… more of a passing offensive game. Then it was right back to shooting at the first opportunity (15 shot in the period).  The onus is on the Avalanche to figure out a way to get control of the game back. I wouldn’t change a thing the Thrashers are doing.
Three goals tonight on the rush… the goalies are getting it done so far.
3rd Period Plays & Analysis
Top line gets the face off, and they come out firing.  One shot from Stewart after the work in of the left side on the first position.
The Avs are moving the puck much better in the defensive zone this period. Most notably the third line is giving up nothing for the Thrashers to work with.
Both teams having trouble in the offensive zone. They can get a shot on the rush but nothing else.
Anderson clears puck to the right wall, defensive zone turnover, Avs late to the puck.  Two quick passes to Antropov, 12 foot wrister to near side top shelf: Thrashers GOAL (Atropov from Little & Bergfors at 4:19) First goal not scored on the rush, perfect example of why defensive zone turnovers will kill you. Thrashers are just plain out-skating the Avalanche.
1st Five Minutes goes to the Thrashers for one reason: the goal. Otherwise it would be a wash.  Too much play happening in the Neutral Zone for either side to do much of anything other than play for a turnover.
It looks like the Thrashers have taken their foot off the petal. Colorado is finally getting good pressure with two shots (first time since the first period). Top line looks invigorated, but it might be too little too late.
Hedberg is on his game tonight, he has been in perfect position for every shot since the goal. The Avs are nearing desperation time when they need to try something they’ve never done before.
Defensive zone turnover, work down to the left corner for Stewy, red line drive, jam in shot, save, Stewart gets his own rebound, far side: Avalanche GOAL (Chris Stewart from Paul Stastny & TJ Galiardi) Defensive zone turnovers will kill you. Good quick reactions by Avs, the whole play took less than 4 seconds.
2nd Five Minutes belong to the Avs, looked like the Thrashers got overconfident with the lead and it cost ‘em a goal, but it may cost them more as the Avs are playing with purpose now. Forecheck in the Neutral Zone is about a billion times better all of a sudden.
Thrashers are playing keep away in the Avs zone with 7:00 minutes left, a little early to try to run out the clock with only a 1 goal lead.
FOURTH LINE GOAL, FOURTH LINE GOAL, oh how I love a fourth line goal. They’re almost always messy, and this one was extra messy.  Quincey had a shot from the right blue line to McCloud right in front and he over-tipped it, so Durno had to hurry to beat Hedberg to the opposite side, backhand: Avalanche GOAL (Chris Durno from Cody McLeod & Kyle Quincey) Looked awful, felt awesome.
Note: Avalanche’s fourth line scored on Thrasher’s top line.
3rd Five Minutes was a lesson in the Prevent Defense of hockey. Don’t do it too early or you lose the lead. Thrashers were passive and seemed to be more interested in beating the clock than the other team. Low and behold, 2 Avalanche goals.
Right away the Thrashers commit a baaaaaad delay of game. The puck was past the Avalanche blue line before it left the ice.
The Avs take a page from the book of the Thrashers: they are just firing the puck at the net with no regard for the situation. 3 shots made it to the net.
Thrashers come out of the PK with some energy, great pressure with 2 shots, had to be a least 75 seconds of pressure in the closing two minutes.
12 seconds left and Afinogenov is whistled just off-sides with advantage on a one-on-one rush. Rough break for the Thrashers.
3rd Five Minutes are mostly Thrashers. After the Avalanche goals they picked it back up. But the Avs come back from two down to grab at least a point.
End Period.
4v4 Overtime Plays & Analysis
Stastny wins the face off, passes back to Kyle Cumiskey, who works in left side against 4 defenders all by himself. Cuts right, splits the defense, cut left to the goal, wrist shot high stick side: Avalanche GOAL (Kyle Cumiskey from Paul Stastny at 0:09)
Game Over, Sports Center highlight.  Wow, I mean, he just humiliated the top line of the Thrashers in the first nine seconds of OT, 2 points.
This game was a blown game by the Thrashers. They had everything well in hand and called off the dogs too early. Play to the final whistle Thrashers! Maybe that’s the reason why you’re currently 12th in the East.
The Avs, to their credit, kept fighting, and full respect to the top-notch performance by Andy to keep them in the game in that brutal second period. But against a smarter team they probably lose this game.  One stat worthy being mentioned: 0 penalties in the third period. That’s the way to get momentum back.
Oh, and my brother just brought up that Stastny had three assists tonight. Not bad for the top line center for the Americans going into the Olympics. (I’m serious, he’s the best of the group)
How can you be angry at a comeback though? And now we are back on top of the Northwest.
Vancouver has 9 more games on this road trip (thank you Olympics) and are already starting to show signs of road fatigue. The Avalanche must take full advantage now and leave everything out on the ice. They have the Coyotes at home and then visit the Kings before the break, they need 2 points to hold the division at the break.
