SB Nation Atlanta - Atlanta Thrashers Schedule: Boston Bruins Wrap Up Homestandhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2010-11-28T20:52:28-05:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/16043332010-11-28T20:52:28-05:002010-11-28T20:52:28-05:00Atlanta Thrashers Defeat The Boston Bruins 4-1; Byfuglien Scores Game Winner Yet Again
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<p><span>Dustin Byfuglien</span>’s five game winning goals leads the league among all skaters. To find another defenseman on that list, you have to scroll down to number 21 where Buffalo’s Tyler Meyers sits with three. Byfuglien tied a Thrashers record tonight for points in a game for a defenseman with four, and tied a personal marker as well while working his way atop the list of goals and points for a defenseman. Byfuglien has 25 points on the year, good for 16th in the league. He had 39 points total last season. Buff also leads defensemen in shots with 93, which is twenty shots ahead of the number two defenseman, Shea Weber. In fact, about the only category that Buff doesn’t lead league defensemen in is +/-, and at the end of this homestand that’s improved from a -2 to a +4.</p>
<p>Apparently Buff makes a difference. Not all of the offense comes from him, however. Fourteen different Thrashers scored during this six game homestand, and during the five game win streak the team outscored their opponents 19-3. Tonight was the first game where they were outshot by their opponents in the win streak, and thanks to <span>Ondrej Pavelec</span>, it didn’t matter. Pavelec has a .949SV% this season, which is third in the league. His goals against average is a tiny 1.62, also good for 3rd in the league.</p>
<p>Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and the six game homestand is over. The Thrashers next play Tuesday night at Colorado; the puck drops at 10:00 Eastern Time. Here’s to continuing the win streak up to a franchise record six.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2010/11/28/1841263/atlanta-thrashers-defeat-the-boston-bruins-4-1-byfuglien-scores-gameLaura Astorian2010-11-28T18:51:23-05:002010-11-28T18:51:23-05:00Bruins and Thrashers Each Score Once In Second Period
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<p>The Bruins finally got on the board in the midst of a fairly flat second period, squeaking one by Pavelec. At 12:22, <span>Blake Wheeler</span> took a wrist shot a bit out that Pavs put a pad down on but didn’t get all of it. Neither team was playing with much oomph in the second period; even the scrap between <span>Eric Boulton</span> and <span>Shawn Thornton</span> seemed drawn out and tired (the fight between <span>Evander Kane</span> and <span>Matt Hunwick</span>, however, was different).</p>
<p>A boarding hit on <span>Alexander Burmistrov</span> from <span>Daniel Paille</span> sparked the team, and not just <span>Ben Eager</span>, who got a roughing penalty jumping in post-hit. A minute and a half after the hit on Burmistrov, <span>Dustin Byfuglien</span> snagged his fourth goal of the night on a <span>Niclas Bergfors</span> re-direct right before the buzzer to put the Thrashers up 4-1.</p>
<p><a href="http://twitter.com/#!/ryanclassic/status/9029076249477120" target="new">It’s exactly three years to the day since Byfuglien scored his first four point game against the Phoenix Coyotes</a>.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2010/11/28/1841027/bruins-and-thrashers-each-score-once-in-second-periodLaura Astorian2010-11-28T17:44:46-05:002010-11-28T17:44:46-05:00Atlanta Thrashers Score First On Boston Bruins
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<p><span>Dustin Byfuglien</span> continues to add to his lead leading point totals, dragging a puck up ice and passing it to <span>Anthony Stewart</span>, whose shot is conveniently close to <span>Evander Kane</span>’s stick. Kane redirects and taps it home to make the score 1-0 Thrashers. That was Kane’s 9th goal on the year and 16th point. The assist was Byfuglien’s 22nd point, and the assist was Stewart’s 7th on the year.</p>
<p>Speaking of goals, Dustin Byfuglien completely undressed fellow defenseman <span>Dennis Seidenberg</span>. Thanks to assists from Burmistrov and Oduya, and an uncredited one from the boards he bounced the puck off of to loop around Seidenberg, the Thrashers found themselves up 2-0 with about six to play in the first period.</p>
<p>A little over two minutes later, <span>Jim Slater</span> scored on a pass from Dustin Byfuglien, dragging the puck across the front of the crease and knocking it in over Rask’s blocker. That made Byfuglien’s third point on the game, pushing him into the team lead for points and past <span>John-Michael Liles</span> for the lead league in points by a defenseman.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2010/11/28/1840910/atlanta-thrashers-score-first-on-boston-bruinsLaura Astorian2010-11-28T16:53:07-05:002010-11-28T16:53:07-05:00Boston Bruins At Atlanta Thrashers: David Krejci Still Sick With The Flu
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<p><span>David Krejci</span> is not on the ice for warm-ups. The Bruins’ centerman (2-10-12, +3) has the flu and did not make the trip with the team. Call-up Jamie Arniel is on ice, leaving the Bruins with <span>Gregory Campbell</span>, <span>Tyler Seguin</span>, <span>Patrice Bergeron</span>, and <span>Brad Marchand</span> to choose from. Not particularly bad, but also not high scoring save for Bergeron, who has three goals and ten assists on the year, and is also a +7. Thrashers’ centerman <span>Rich Peverley</span> outsccores all Bruins centers with a 5-10-15 line, but is -2 on the year.</p>
<p>Peverley’s out-dueling the Bruins’ centers on the year. He leads the Thrashers with a 58.3 FO%, and the top Bruins center, Patrice Bergeron, has a 52.8 FO%. None of the Bruins’ centers are over 50% other than Bergeron. This might be why they’ve been having issues scoring recently. <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20112BOSSASAll&sort=powerPlayFaceOffsWon&viewName=faceOffPercentageAll" target="new">None of the Bruins’ centers are over 50% at face-offs on the road</a>.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2010/11/28/1840802/boston-bruins-at-atlanta-thrashers-david-krejci-still-sick-with-theLaura Astorian2010-11-28T16:25:03-05:002010-11-28T16:25:03-05:00Boston Bruins at Atlanta Thrashers: Dollar Hot Dogs And Falcons Fans
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<p>An early game start time and a quick Falcons game might make for a decent end of a double-header crowd here at Philips Arena tonight. The pre-game chat with <span>Rich Peverley</span> and a discussion with Matt McConnell had one unifying theme (and one thing that I could take away with me – thanks to my constant bronchitis level coughing I was unable to ask much). That theme was that this might be the best and most consistent Thrashers team in recent memory.</p>
<p>I did ask about <span>Chris Mason</span> hopping off of the bench sometime soon, and (as expected) the reply was that Masonry’ll probably be used in one of the back to backs that the Thrashers have coming up in December, but it’s best not to break up <span>Ondrej Pavelec</span>’s mojo.</p>
<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.canescountry.com/">Carolina Hurricanes</a> took out the Bruins Friday night with just 21 shots on goal by a score of 3-0. <span>Tim Thomas</span> let three go by him. His last start, <span>Tuukka Rask</span> allowed three goals on 36 shots to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.rawcharge.com/">Tampa Bay Lightning</a>. The Bruins lost, 3-1. The Bruins haven’t scored four goals since November 18th. Way to win? Give Pavelec goal support that Rask probably won’t get from his own team.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2010/11/28/1840729/boston-bruins-at-atlanta-thrashers-dollar-hot-dogs-and-falcons-fansLaura Astorian2010-11-28T12:33:13-05:002010-11-28T12:33:13-05:00Atlanta Thrashers Schedule: Boston Bruins Wrap Up Homestand
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<p>Boston is never an easy opponent for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/teams/atlanta-thrashers">Atlanta Thrashers</a>. 11-1 against the Thrash in their last twelve match-ups, most Thrasher fans cringe at the Bruins' name on the schedule, and most Bruins fans brace themselves for an easy victory. That might not happen this game. Both teams are pretty well matched, and the Thrashers are on a four game winning streak at home that hasn't happened since 2007. They've never won five at home, and haven't won five in a row since March of 2009.</p>
<p><a href="http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=544747" target="_blank">The Bruins are entering this game with the mindset of playing a tough opponent</a>, which is something that the league is finally realizing the Thrashers are. </p>
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<span style="font-family: arial; line-height: normal;">"It's going to be a very hard game," said a stern-faced <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.stanleycupofchowder.com/">Boston Bruins</a> captain <a style="color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://bruins.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8465009">Zdeno Chara</a> (21 games played, 4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points), before he and his teammates hopped a flight south on Saturday afternoon.<br><br>"They are playing extremely well -- they've won four games in a row, and have put up 35-plus shots in each of the wins.<br><br>"They are playing an extremely 'hard-working' system," added Chara of Atlanta, 5-4-1 in their last 10. "They play a simple game...[but] we have to be ready to </span><span style="font-family: arial; line-height: normal;">compete and bring our game."</span></p>
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<p>The Thrashers just aren't putting up lots of shots recently (which is still flabbergasting fans in Philips Arena). Their power play is also clicking, and <a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-thrashers-blog/2010/11/27/thrashers-power-play-is-no-3-in-nhl/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_thrashers_blog" target="_blank">it's worked itself up to being the third best in the league</a>. They have a 24.5% success rate on the man advantage. Taking a penalty against Atlanta is not advisable for the opposition. What could be a good idea for the Bruins is to get onto the power play themselves, since Atlanta's PK is 24th in the league, with only a 78.8% success rate. </p>
<p><span>Ondrej Pavelec</span> must shake the trend that he has against the Bruins of being pulled after a bad first period. For whatever reason, he has been atrocious against them in his career. He has stellar stats thus far this season, and has allowed two goals in the past four wins, but Boston gets into his head. He's never won against the Bruins.</p>
<p>The Thrashers have outscored the Bruins this season by fourteen goals this season, 72 to 58, and have ten more powerplay goals than the opposition. The area where they would be most evenly matched up is goaltending, if <span>Tim Thomas</span> would start. However, <span>Tuukka Rask</span> is in net this time around. Rask's improving, but he's 1-5-1 overall with a 2.36 GAA and a .935 SV%. To have that good of numbers while only having won one game tells the story of a team that can't score to support their goaltender. The Thrashers need to take advantage of this.</p>
<p>I'll be participating in the Thrashers' bloggers' day today, so I'll be in the press box. Stay tuned for regular updates from before and during the game, as well as a possible Q&A with <span>Rich Peverley</span> and a write up of Coach Craig Ramsay's post-game press conference.</p>
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https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2010/11/28/2325249/atlanta-thrashers-schedule-boston-bruins-wrap-up-homestandLaura Astorian