SB Nation Atlanta - Atlanta Thrashers At Carolina Hurricanes, Final Score: Thrashers Lose In OT 4-3https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2011-01-09T16:20:07-05:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/16880252011-01-09T16:20:07-05:002011-01-09T16:20:07-05:00Atlanta Thrashers At Carolina Hurricanes: Thrashers Pick Up A Point In Overtime
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<p>You can’t say that the team didn’t try. In a game that ended much better than the one Friday night, the Thrashers were felled by Eric Cole in overtime, 4-3. The only goal scored in the third period was a beautiful drive to the net by <span>Bryan Little</span>. <span>Anthony Stewart</span> managed to get Little the puck in the Cane’s zone, and Little carried it all the way up to the Hurricanes’ net and over the shoulder of <span>Justin Peters</span> to tie the game. This was Little’s twelfth goal of the year, one less than he scored all last season.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for the Thrashers, Eric Cole grabbed his own rebound with about three minutes remaining in the OT and shoved it past Pavelec’s right pad for the winning goal.</p>
<p>Tonight’s loss gives the Thrashers 51 points and a two point lead over 8th place Montreal. The concerning part about this, though, is that Atlanta is off until Friday and the teams around them aren’t. This gives the rest of the conference a chance to pick up a few games on Atlanta – the Thrashers have played 45 games, which is the most in the conference. The jam-packed December wasn’t necessarily good for the team, because they were the most tired when they were fighting for the points that they most needed. They’re going to have to pick up the pace from here on out if they want to stay in the playoff hunt for the rest of the season.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2011/1/9/1925061/atlanta-thrashers-at-carolina-hurricanes-thrashers-pick-up-a-point-inLaura Astorian2011-01-09T15:23:18-05:002011-01-09T15:23:18-05:00Atlanta Thrashers At Carolina Hurricanes: Thrashers Down 3-2 Going Into Third Period
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<p>Not the best ice conditions for the game today, with pucks bouncing and players stumbling, but the lack of solid passing isn’t entirely the ice’s fault. Neither is the lack of effectiveness on the penalty kill.</p>
<p><span>Zac Dalpe</span> drove the net and accepted a perfect pass from <span>Patrick Dwyer</span> for the Canes’ second goal of the game. The pass forced Pavelec to turn from Dwyer to Dalpe, who was on his opposite side, and he couldn’t turn fast enough.</p>
<p>About two minutes later, with <span>Bryan Little</span> in the box for a questionable holding penalty, <span>Jeff Skinner</span> scored a perfect powerplay goal. He was at the playoff dot to Pavelec’s left and took a perfect pass from <span>Joe Corvo</span>. Corvo recovered the blocked shot, passed it to Skinner, and Skinner had a completely wide-open net to fire the puck into.</p>
<p>Atlanta got one of those goals back after a Carolina goal was waived off and a penalty was assessed on Eric Cole for interference. On the ensuing powerplay, <span>Andrew Ladd</span> slid the puck to <span>Niclas Bergfors</span>, who wristed the puck past Peters’ glove side. This was Bergfors’ ninth goal of the season, and he is on a bit of a point streak, with two goals and two assists in the past four games.</p>
<p>The Thrashers ended the period on a penalty kill, with Enstrom going off for a holding penalty. Hopefully this will be an effective penalty kill and the Thrashers can carry some momentum to close out the game in the third.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2011/1/9/1924957/atlanta-thrashers-at-carolina-hurricanes-thrashers-down-3-2-goingLaura Astorian2011-01-09T14:27:37-05:002011-01-09T14:27:37-05:00Atlanta Thrashers At Carolina Hurricanes - Score All Knotted Up 1-1 After One Period
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<p>That probably wasn’t the start to the game that the Thrashers hoped for. Just 55 seconds in, forward <span>Chris Thorburn</span> got whistled for Tripping, sending the Canes on their first powerplay of the game. Poor coverage allowed <span>Tuomo Ruutu</span> to zip directly up the ice and wrist one past <span>Ondrej Pavelec</span>. After allowing five power play goals on Friday, the Thrashers wanted to effectively kill off some penalties today to right that fragile ship.</p>
<p>Luckily, <span>Bryan Little</span> decided to go on and right that ship himself. Sloppy passing’s bothered both teams so far this game, but when the Thrashers can maintain puck possession they’ve been able to go directly to the crease and apply pressure. Little got control of the puck behind the net during a melee, and his wrap-around goal on Carolina goalie <span>Justin Peters</span> caught the goaltender distracted. So far Little’s scored 11 goals and 13 assists for the season, which is already two goals less than his goal total last season, and ten points less than he got the entire 2009-2010 season. Unless injury strikes, this is a bounceback year for the forward.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2011/1/9/1924883/atlanta-thrashers-at-carolina-hurricanes-score-all-knotted-up-1-1Laura Astorian2011-01-08T23:25:45-05:002011-01-08T23:25:45-05:00Atlanta Thrashers At Carolina Hurricanes: Thrashers Want To Leave Friday's Loss Behind Them
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<p>The last time these two teams met on December 16th, the Hurricanes walked away with a 3-2 shootout win over <span>Chris Mason</span> and the Thrashers. The last time the Thrashers played, however, the score was not nearly as close. The Maple Leafs blew the Thrashers out Friday night by a score of 9-3. Five goals came when <span>Ben Eager</span> was sitting in the penalty box; four of those five came on his match penalty called after he suckerpunched <span>Colby Armstrong</span> with his glove on. </p>
<p>As a reward, <a href="http://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2011/1/8/1923504/atlanta-thrashers-forward-ben-eager-suspended-four-games-for-sucker" target="_blank">Eager was suspended for four games</a>. This isn't the Thrashers losing an impact player; at worst, it's them losing a guy who supplies size. The real issue is that the Team is short a skill guy in <span>Fredrik Modin</span>, the team's top forward in <span>Evander Kane</span>, and the team's top face-off guy in <span>Jim Slater</span>. They'll be replaced by <span>Tim Stapleton</span> and <span>Spencer Machacek</span> of the Chicago Wolves. Machacek has played two games with the Thrashers, both in the 2008-2009 season. He has fourteen goals and nineteen assists so far this year for the Wolves, after finishing last season with 49 points (20-29-49).</p>
<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.canescountry.com/">Carolina Hurricanes</a> are five points behind the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/">Montreal Canadiens</a> for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. They're an impressive 5-3-2 in their past ten games, but the last three times that Atlanta's visited the RBC Center they've won. <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/gametracker/preview/NHL_20110109_ATL@CAR/thrashershurricanes-preview" target="_blank">Atlanta's 6-3-1 in their past ten road games, but have lost five of the last seven home games</a>. Maybe getting out and about'll be good for the team. It's a crapshoot for who to start in goal, as Chris Mason has better stats against Carolina than <span>Ondrej Pavelec</span> does, but neither goalie played well Friday night. Both are surely looking for a chance to redeem themselves, but chances are good that Pavelec will get the start.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2011/1/8/2327713/atlanta-thrashers-at-carolina-hurricanes-thrashers-want-to-leaveLaura Astorian