By Bud L. Ellis
Fighting to stay afloat in the crowded bottom two-thirds of the Eastern Conference, a power outage was the last thing the Atlanta Thrashers needed.
A three-game, 0-for-13 stretch on the power play hasn’t done anything to enhance the Thrashers’ playoff chances. But Tuesday night, locked in a 1-1 game in the third period with Anaheim at Philips Arena, Atlanta got what it hopes to be a goal that didn’t just win a game, but jump-starts its special teams.
Max Afinogenov popped home a power-play goal 4:03 into the third, breaking a 1-1 tie as the Thrashers won 2-1. The victory keeps the Thrashers on the edge of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East heading into Thursday’s road game at Philadelphia.
Colby Armstrong scored Atlanta’s first goal in the second period. Anaheim lit the lamp later in the second, but Johan Hedberg stopped the Ducks from there, recording 34 saves for the victory.
Starting with the game at Philly, the Thrashers play six of their next eight on the road leading into the Olympic break.
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Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 5:46 am by bud
Tags: Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Colby Armstrong, Johan Hedberg, Max Afinogenov, Philadelphia Flyers, Philips Arena
By Bud L. Ellis
Usually, it takes the Atlanta Thrashers a period or so to come to life.
Thursday night at Philips Arena, the Thrashers had plenty of jump in the game’s first three minutes, putting five shots on goal against Carolina. But then, the air went out of the balloon, Eric Stahl scored the first of his three goals and the rout was in motion.
Sure, the 5-2 final score didn’t look bad, but trust me, it was. Many inside Philips Arena left during the early stages of the third period, when Atlanta had three power plays and couldn’t muster much of a charge, down at that stage 4-1 to the team with the worst record in the NHL.
Colby Armstrong gave the home crowd a glimmer of hope, cutting the deficit to 4-2 with under nine minutes to play. But Carolina was too strong, and Stahl capped his hat trick with an empty netter in the final minutes.
Rich Peverley put Atlanta on the board midway through the second period. But by then it was 4-0, thanks to two quick Carolina goals three minutes apart in the first half of the first period, and two power-play goals 1:53 apart in the opening minutes of the second period.
The loss keeps Atlanta out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. The Thrashers remain at 51 points, tied for 10th with Montreal, three points behind the Islanders and Bruins, who are tied for seventh.
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Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 9:34 pm by bud
Tags: Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Colby Armstrong, Eric Stahl, Montreal Canadians, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, Philips Arena, Rich Peverley
By Bud L. Ellis
For all their early-season success on the road, the Atlanta Thrashers have found some rough sledding away from Philips Arena.
Atlanta dropped to 1-2 on its current four-game road swing, losing 3-1 Wednesday night at Calgary in a game where the Thrashers couldn’t generate any offense.
Colby Armstrong scored his fourth goal of the season for Atlanta at the 12:27 mark of the third period, scoring off assists off Rich Peverley and Boris Valabik. Armstrong’s goal cut a 2-0 deficit in half, but Atlanta couldn’t draw any closer.
Following a scoreless first period, Calgary posted two goals in the second to grab a 2-0 advantage. Nigel Dawes beat Atlanta goaltender Johan Hedberg 2:09 into the second for the game’s first goal, and Olli Jokinen scored at the 14:28 mark.
Rene Bourque added an empty-net goal with 40 seconds left.
For the Thrashers, who started the season by winning eight of their first 11 road games, Wednesday’s loss followed an ugly 5-2 defeat Monday at Toronto. Atlanta opened the roadtrip with a shootout victory Saturday in Florida.
The Thrashers end the road trip Thursday at Vancouver. The game marks a homecoming for Evander Kane, the Thrashers’ first-round draft pick this season who hails from Vancouver.
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Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 9:29 pm by bud
Tags: Atlanta Thrashers, Boris Valabik, Calgary Flames, Colby Armstrong, Florida Panthers, Johan Hedberg, Philips Arena, Rich Peverley, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks
