SB Nation Atlanta - Atlanta Thrashers Schedule: For The Second Time This Week, The Thrashers Face The Washington Capitalshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2010-11-20T00:24:53-05:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/15888142010-11-20T00:24:53-05:002010-11-20T00:24:53-05:00Atlanta Thrashers Score Five And Give Pavelec His First Shutout Of The Season
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<p>The difference between tonight’s game and Wednesday’s game for the Thrashers could be described as night and day, but that wouldn’t give it justice. The Thrashers’ gameplan was total domination for sixty minutes, and that’s what happened. No “shifts off” for some players and absolutely no periods off, the Thrashers came out of the gate firing and never let up.</p>
<p>Defensively this was the best game of the year. Yes, the Caps did manage 29 shots on goal, but few of them were amazing scoring chances. The defense had outstanding coverage on all of the Caps’ troublemakers, and forced many bad passes from Ovechkin – who had another off night against Atlanta. Pavelec was outstanding in goal, but the goal scorers tonight made the biggest statement. The two goals in fifteen seconds apparently got under the Caps’ skin, because they played frustrated and rough</p>
<p><span>Dustin Byfuglien</span>’s sixth goal of the year was in response to a cross checking call on <span>Evander Kane</span> – after an obvious cross check from <span>John Erskine</span> to <span>Bryan Little</span>. That, and an uncalled interference hit on Alex Burmistrov apparently got under Byfuglien’s skin, because he did this (keep in mind that he left Wednesday’s game and did not return – he was questionable for tonight):</p>
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<p>His reaction is priceless. It’s good to have players who take anger or irritation and who transform it into something constructive. Instead of taking a retribution penalty Byfuglien scored another highlight reel goal. I do appreciate Erskine standing there doing absolutely nothing as Buff scored. It’s almost like he knew what was coming and didn’t want to try to stop it. Good plan.</p>
<p>Burmistrov’s goal of the night proves why Rick Dudley made the decision to keep the kid around. He’s getting better at staying on the puck and has absolutely great developing hockey sense anyway, but for him to draw the goaltender out of his crease, hold onto puck possession, and then tuck the puck in for a goal… wow. Serious puck handling skills. Just give him a few seasons of experience, and he’ll be an even bigger force to recon with. That being said, this goal got him one of the bigger goal ovations I’ve heard at Philips in quite some time:</p>
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<p>All said and done, this was an impressive first game for the <span>Andrew Ladd</span> era of the Thrashers. It was a statement game, and the statement was to never count these guys out. If they can consistently play this kind of hockey, the Thrashers will climb the standings. This is, without a doubt, what I expected when the season started. This team’s built for success – it’ll take time, but fans are already seeing glimpses of the future.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2010/11/20/1825717/atlanta-thrashers-score-five-and-give-pavelec-his-first-shutout-ofLaura Astorian2010-11-19T15:42:18-05:002010-11-19T15:42:18-05:00Atlanta Thrashers Schedule: For The Second Time This Week, The Thrashers Face The Washington Capitals
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<p>The Thrashers have had a middling record this year in general, but have managed to put up a good fight against the current Southeast Division leading <a href="https://www.japersrink.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Washington Capitals</a>. The Thrash are 1-1-1 so far this year in games against the Caps, all of which have been started by <span>Chris Mason</span>. Mason was pulled the last game ion Sunday between the two teams after allowing four goals on sixteen shots, and Pavelec filled in for him blocking fifteen out of sixteen shots on the net. Pavs was outstanding in Wednesday's 2-1 loss against the <a href="https://www.litterboxcats.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Florida Panthers</a>, and facing <span>Alexander Semin</span> tonight is his reward.</p>
<p>Some gift. Semin has fourteen goals and eleven assists this year, which leads Alexander Ovechkin by four in the goal department and ties him at 25 in the point standings. Neither player had a brilliant game on Sunday (least of all Ovechkin, who was a turnover machine that night), but they're dangerous and shouldn't be left uncovered in front of the net.</p>
<p><span>Dustin Byfuglien</span> was at the morning skate this morning, according to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/benthrashers" target="_blank">Ben Wright</a>. Not sure about his status for the game tonight, <a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-thrashers-blog/2010/11/18/no-word-on-byfugliens-status/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_thrashers_blog" target="_blank">but the lines at practice and probably for tonight's game are this</a>:</p>
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<p>Ladd-Peverley-Bergfors</p>
<p>Kane-Little-Stewart</p>
<p>Eager-Burmistov-Antropov</p>
<p>Boulton-Slater-Thorburn</p>
<p>Coach Craig Ramsay was not thrilled with either Eager or Slater's performance on Wednesday, limiting their ice time significantly in the third period. The Boulton-Slater-Thorburn line is always a solid bet for chemistry, so they've been reunited in a bid to get the team to be <a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-thrashers-blog/2010/11/18/ramsay-wants-to-play-four-lines-but-needs-committment/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_thrashers_blog" target="_blank">able to run four, effort filled lines for the entire game</a>. The Thrashers played good hockey for the first and third periods on Wednesday, but imploded during the second, acting like they didn't want to be out there. This is something that new captain <span>Andrew Ladd</span> might want to work on - motivation. It's hard playing at a half-empty Philips Arena, but if the team wants a crowd to play in front of of their own fans, they need to give their fans a reason to come. There were a good chunk there Wednesday for a game against the Panthers, and they played flat. That can't happen tonight. They're already second to last in the Southeast Division. A free fall's hard to recover from at any time of the year.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2010/11/19/2324702/atlanta-thrashers-schedule-for-the-second-time-this-week-theLaura Astorian