So far so good. The first period saw the Thrashers jump out to a 1-0 lead on a deflection in off of Jim Slater’s skate by an Eric Boulton shot. Twelve minutes later Bryan Little netted a wrist shot to put Atlanta up 2-0, with Chris Thorburn and Dustin Byfuglien adding two assists. The Thrashers rebounded well after getting outshot 7-0 at the start of the first period to bring the shot total closer at 11-10 still favoring the Sens.
The second period involved the least exciting record setting goal possibly ever. Dustin Byfuglien shoved the puck past Ottawa goaltender Bryan Elliot before the whistle blew to put atlanta up 3-0. This was Buff’s eleventh goal of the year, setting a franchise record for goals by a defenseman in a season. It’s only December. I have a feeling that record might get significantly harder to break by the end of the season.
Daniel Alfredsson scored his team-leading 9th goal of the season at 18:31 of the 2nd period after an awful mishandling of the puck by Brent Sopel. Somehow it managed to make it back to Ron Hainsey, who basically centered the puck for Alfredsson to push it past Pavelec.
Few worries, though. When leading after two, the Thrashers have a success rate of 75%. Atlanta has also scored 28 more goals on the year than Ottawa have through the end of the second period. The odds seem to be in their favor.