Neither team had a good deal of jump for this period, especially the Thrashers, who spent most of it fighting for control of the puck, or clearing the puck from their own zone. Atlanta started the period with a penalty just nineteen seconds in, when Blake Wheeler was called for closing his hand on the puck midair. It was a successful PK – the PK is 2-for-2 tonight, and with Rob Schremp’s goal in the first period, the power play is 1-2.
At 11:55, Troy Bodie scored his first NHL goal by firing a puck high over a diving Tobias Enstrom, who clearly expected a shot along the ice. Fortunately Pavelec is on his game tonight, and stopped the other twelve shots he faced that period.
Carolina leads the Thrashers in shots at 23-19. This could be seen as a good thing for Atlanta – the more shots they take, the lower their winning percentage seems to go. Fewer shots tend to equal more quality and well thought out shots, which of course equal more goals.