Face-Off Winning Percentages Shine In Thrashers' Loss

One other positive note to take away from the game, as pointed out by the AJC’s Chris Vivlamore: Rich Peverley was 13 for 16 in the face off circle (81%) and Alexander Burmistrov was eight for 12 (67%). Winning face offs is key to puck control, especially in your own end. This could account for the Kings’ problems scoring in the first and second periods.

Thrashers Fall 3-1 To Kings In Third Period

There were positives to take away from this game. Goaltender Chris Mason was outstanding, allowing two goals on 34 shots, and the penalty kill went two for two. The fourth line of Eager-Burmistrov-Thorburn again continued to impress, oftentimes being the only line to put forth solid and consistent effort. Chris Thorburn scored the Thrashers lone goal at 2:26 of the second period, whapping in his own rebound. The drive of that line continues to impress. They averaged between twelve and a half and thirteen and a half minutes each, which was the most of any forward save for Andrew Ladd, who played 15:12.

Defensively, the only breakdown came on the first goal, which was a Ryan Smyth backhand while Zach Bogosian was tied up with Justin Williams. A goaltender interference penalty would not have been out of the question, considering that Williams fell on Mason and impeded his ability to play the puck, but the Thrashers did not get a powerplay or a disallowed goal out of it.

The powerplay was the weakest aspect of the game, going 0-for-5 in a game that saw the Kings play fairly undisciplined hockey up until the last period. Thus far this season the Thrashers are 1-for-14 on the power play, which is a significant issue that they need to address. Two shots on three powerplays in the first period is a major issue. Coach Craig Ramsay addressed the problem after the game:

“That was not a good effort by our power play,” Ramsay said. “Our speed up the ice, at times, was just not good enough. Our entries were not good enough. … [The Kings] did a real good job on us and we didn’t recognize that our points were open. We didn’t get our shots through. We didn’t take shots when we had them. When you get a puck in the offensive zone and you get outworked on it, that’s not good enough. It’s a privilege to play on the power play. I put [Alexander] Burmistrov’s line out there with 30 seconds to go and they had the best entry of the night and that tells you how it works when people are really committed.

“Tonight they outhustled us down deep in our zone. We had opportunities to win battles and get it to the point and we didn’t get that job done. We’ve got some pretty good shooters back there but if you are not getting them the puck it doesn’t do you any good.”

The Thrashers continue their road trip Friday night against the struggling Anaheim Ducks (0-3-0, with just two goals scored over three games), and conclude the trip against the San Jose Sharks (2-0-1). Both games are radio only, but NHL Center Ice's free preview runs through the end of the month, so your cable company should have the games available to watch.

Jarret Stoll Scores To Bring The Kings Up By One Over The Thrashers

Thrashers defenseman Ron Hainsey redirected a shot from Jarret Stoll to help put the puck in the net just seconds after Ryan Smyth scored to make it 1-1.

Hainsey and Brent Sopel, the weakest defensive pairing during the pre-season, are -1 for the game, and the third line of Kane-Peverley-Stewart is now -2.

Kings' Ryan Smyth Scores To Even Score Against Thrashers At One

Ryan Smyth scores on a screen of Chris Mason to even the score of the game. Zach Bogosian lost track of Smyth at the side of the net, and when Justin Williams fell on Mason after being checked, Smyth knocked it into the net. The goal was scored at 3:53 of the 3rd period.

Thrashers And Kings Tied After The Second Period

The Kings outshot Atlanta 13-9 in the second period, but the disciplined Thrashers maintained their 1-0 lead through limiting quality scoring chances.

The highlight of the period comes courtsey of Paul Bissonnette, tough guy for the Phoenix Coyotes. He and Thorburn played junior hockey together, and he had this to say regarding his old captain:

@TSNBobMcKenzie he was our captain. He can smoke a cigar in the shower his nose is so big.

Chris thorburn is a gem. Still talk to him after games when we play each other. He doesn't swear. He says frig instead of f bombs. Good Christian boy from the soo.

Chris Thorburn Scores First To Make It 1-0 Thrashers Over Kings

Chris Thorburn’s tenacity makes the difference, driving to the net, catching his own rebound off the pads of Jonathan Quick, and shooting it into the open net.

Thorburn currently has three shots on goal and is leading the fourth line to another game where they’re both defensively and offensively responsible.

Atlanta Thrashers And Los Angeles Kings Tied At Zero After One

The Thrashers benefited from some extremely lucky bounces, especially one depriving rookie Brayden Schenn of his first NHL goal. They also benefited from three Kings penalties within the first nine minutes of the first period, but could not convert thanks to the Kings harder hitting style.

So far the Thrashers have twelve shots on Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, and the Kings have managed nine shots on Chris Mason. This is a drastic defensive improvement for the Thrashers, who had allowed twenty shots on goal after one period in Tampa Bay on Saturday night.

Atlanta Thrashers Line Combinations For 10/12/10.

Coach Craig Ramsay’s sticking with what’s worked so far:

Andrew Ladd – Bryan Little – Niclas Bergfors
Freddy Modin – Nik Antropov – Nigel Dawes
Evander Kane – Rich Peverley – Anthony Stewart
Ben Eager – Alex Burmistrov – Chris Thorburn

Johnny Oduya – Zach Bogosian
Dustin Byfuglien – Tobias Enstrom
Brent Sopel – Ron Hainsey

From Rich Hammond, the LA Kings’ beat writer/blogger:

Three of the Kings’ four lines will get new looks at left wing tonight, with Andrei Loktionov joining the first line, Ryan Smyth moving to the second line and Brad Richardson moving to the fourth line. The odd man out in this scenario is Kyle Clifford, the rookie who played seven capable minutes in each of his first two NHL games. Clifford can still be returned to his junior team before his 10th NHL game (before the Kings burn a year off his contract), but Terry Murray said the move wasn’t a reflection on Clifford. Richardson has been a lineup staple, Brayden Schenn has had two strong games and Murray likes having an enforcer — Kevin Westgarth — in the lineup.

Starting Goaltenders For Tonight's Thrashers At Kings Game

Chris Mason will start in goal tonight for the Thrashers, unsurprisingly. Kings’ starter Jonathan Quick will probably be in goal, according to DailyFaceOff.com. Mason faced the Kings four times last season, and ended with a 3-1 record and a 2.46 GAA with a .917 save percentage.

So far this season, Quick has a .920 GAA and a .958SV%, allowing only one goal in his start this season against Vancouver.

Atlanta Thrashers at Los Angeles Kings: West Coast Trip Begins

The Thrashers' West Coast road trip begins tonight with the LA Kings' home opener at 10:30. The last time these two teams met it resulted in a 7-0 thumping of the Kings at Philips Arena.

LA's offense has been anemic thus far this season, scoring only three goals and averaging 27 shots a game, where the Thrashers have scored seven goals over the past two games with an average SOG of 30.5. The difference between the two teams is that the Thrashers allowed five goals in their loss to Tampa Bay Saturday night, and the most that the Kings have allowed have been three.

Solution?  Keep trotting the fourth line out there. The Thrashers' shutdown line of Ben Eager-Alex Burmistrov-Chris Thorburn has been successful defensively as well as offensively. Thorburn has a goal and a +/- rating of a +3, Ben Eager has a goal and an assist and is a +2, and Alex Burmistrov, while pointless in two games, has a +3 rating. Coach Craig Ramsay expects all lines to be responsible as well as a scoring threat, and the fourth line emulates that theory perfectly.

Evander Kane is also someone that the Kings might want to look into defending. A lot. Kane's two goals in the home opener were outstanding displays of offensive skill mixed with tenacity. Kane has scored two out of the Thrashers' seven goals; the other five come from five other players. The threat is spread out. Tobias Enstrom scored Saturday night, hopefully breaking his "pass first, ask questions later" trend.

It's also the Kings' second Armenian Heritage night - they tend to schedule it when Zach Bogosian comes to town. Here're Zach's thoughts on the first one held in 2009:

It’s pretty special for the Kings to have Armenian Heritage Night while I’m playing there. My grandparents are Armenian and that part of my background is really important to me, because even though I’m not from there it’s always good to go back to your roots and understand where you came from. Plus it’s special to my family so it’s special to me. I’m pretty proud to be Armenian, and there are a lot of them out in LA, so my grandfather is really excited about it. I think there’s something like 2 million of them in the LA area, which is crazy since there are only about three million people that actually live in Armenia. As far as I know I’m the first Armenian player to play in the NHL, so there’s going to be a lot of them there rooting for me. That’s going to be pretty cool.

...

So being Armenian is really important to me. I have an Armenian cross tattoo on my back. It’s cool to me to be from such a small place- it makes you different. And even though Armenia is small, it’s a special country. It’s really old, and the Armenian people were the first ones to officially accept Christianity as their national religion.

As the other half of Atlanta's Armenian community (I kid... I hope), I'm always glad to see Bogosian be so proud of where he came from, and am thrilled to see the Kings honor their city's Armenian population.  Hopefully my buddy and fellow Armenian Tepleg of Jerseys and Hockey Love will be able to make the game this year. If he does, I'll ask for his impressions of the night.

Stay tuned for game day rosters for both clubs, and a look at who is in net for the Kings.