SB Nation Atlanta - Atlanta Thrashers At Florida Panthers: Thrashers Avoid Season-High Losing Streak With A 3-2 Winhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2011-01-17T22:42:52-05:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/17046342011-01-17T22:42:52-05:002011-01-17T22:42:52-05:00Atlanta Thrashers At Florida Panthers Final Score: Thrashers Top Streaking Panthers 3-2 In A Shootout
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<p>Through the first forty minutes, nothing happened of note. The goaltending was perfect on both sides, and the Thrashers penalty kill was humming effectively along, going two for two.</p>
<p>And then the third period happened.</p>
<p>The Thrashers recent scoring woes made for some nervousness after <span>Dennis Wideman</span> scored to capitalize on a too many men on the ice bench minor penalty. The Panthers struck again, after <span>Tobias Enstrom</span> slashed a Florida player coming in to score. While on the power play, Dimitry Kulikov backhanded it into an open net past a tied up Pavelec and <span>Brent Sopel</span> to put the Panthers up 2-0.</p>
<p>Coach Craig Ramsay pulled <span>Ondrej Pavelec</span> with just over two minutes left, and the Panthers promptly missed an empty net goal by a foot. In the play after the icing call, <span>Bryan Little</span> knocked home the puck during a massive scrum in front of the net to cut the lead to one. Little again shot the puck to the net, and it trickled past Clemmensen to tie the game. There is debate over who scored the second goal – it was Little’s shot and it crossed the goal line before Kane shoved it to the back of the net for insurance, but the <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/boxscore.htm?id=2010020681" target="new"><span class="caps">NHL</span>.com boxscore credits Chris Thorburn with the point</a>. Regardless of who scored, it was enough to force overtime and eventually the shootout.</p>
<p>The Thrashers had won just two shootouts this season, with Pavelec’s first career shootout win coming on December 30th against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.stanleycupofchowder.com/">Boston Bruins</a>. It did not begin well, with Mike Santorelli scoring on Pavelec on the first shot. Bryan Little evened it up, while Pavelec stopped <span>Stephen Weiss</span>, who had two assists on the night. <span>Alexander Burmistrov</span> scored what would prove to be the game winner in the shootout, as Pavelec stonewalled <span>Cory Stillman</span> on the next shot.</p>
<p>The win broke the Thrashers’ season high four game losing streak, and also keeps them three points ahead of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.canescountry.com/">Carolina Hurricanes</a> for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Canes lost today, shut out by the Boston Bruins 7-0. Unfortunately, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/">Montreal Canadiens</a> still have a bit of a lead on the Thrashers as do the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.blueshirtbanter.com/">New York Rangers</a> – both teams are up by three points on Atlanta. With tonight’s win, though, the Thrashers are still in the thick of things. As pointed out by Ben Wright this evening on Twitter:</p>
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<div class="bbpBox27203727337197570"><p class="bbpTweet">Despite the recent slide the <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Thrashers" title="#Thrashers" class="tweet-url hashtag" rel="nofollow">#Thrashers</a> are still only 4 points behind Washington and Tampa and play the Lightning twice this week.<span class="timestamp"><a title="Tue Jan 18 03:20:48 +0000 2011" href="http://twitter.com/#!/BenThrashers/status/27203727337197568">less than a minute ago</a> via <a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com" rel="nofollow">TweetDeck</a></span><span class="metadata"><span class="author"><a href="http://twitter.com/BenThrashers"><img src="http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/59987691/profile_pic_normal.jpg"></a><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/BenThrashers">Ben Wright-Thrashers</a></strong><br>BenThrashers</span></span></p></div>
<p>It’s just January 17th, and the season isn’t over by a long shot. Here’s hoping that this come from behind win gives the team the momentum it needs to get back on track.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/atlanta-thrashers/2011/1/17/1941308/atlanta-thrashers-at-florida-panthers-final-score-thrashers-topLaura Astorian2011-01-17T16:25:36-05:002011-01-17T16:25:36-05:00Atlanta Thrashers At Florida Panthers: Thrashers Trying To Avoid Season-High Losing Streak
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<p>December was a fine month for the Thrashers, but January is still seeing them try to recover from a hectic schedule. <span>Evander Kane</span> is back in the line up, but Freddy Modin (upper-body injury) and <span>Jim Slater</span> (concussion) are still out. Modin, as Tim from <a href="http://www.birdwatchersanonymous.com/" target="_blank">Birdwatchers Anonymous</a> pointed out, <a href="http://www.birdwatchersanonymous.com/2011/1/15/1937432/gameday-thrashers-at-stars" target="_blank">has been the Thrashers' best even strength scorer.</a> If the team isn't on the powerplay, without Modin, their chances for scoring are reduced. Also holding back scoring chances is the fact that Slater is, behind <span>Niclas Bergfors</span>, the owner of the best face off percentage on the team. Winning face-offs in your opponents zone sets up scoring chances for you, and without Slater that's a problem. Another problem without Slater is that you don't win as many shorthanded faceoffs in your own zone. Lose those, and your penalty kill's in trouble.</p>
<p>Oh, wait, is the Thrashers' penalty kill in trouble? Never noticed. After slipping to 29th in the league, the Thrashers decided to add insult to injury and allow three powerplay goals in Saturday's 6-1 drubbing against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/">Dallas Stars</a>. <a href="http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-thrashers/penalty-kill-major-reason-805977.html" target="_blank">The AJC's Chris Vivlamore points at the stumbles</a> as a reason that the team's lost four in a row and has only won three of its last twelve games. It's a very viable reason. Not only are you allowing goals shorthanded, but any goal allowed is damaging to the team in general. Also damaging is the fact that the shots on goals allowed, both on and off the power play, has increased recently. With Pavelec not playing as well as he was before, for whatever reason, that leads to a higher probability of a goal - or six - going in. Coach Craig Ramsay has said in the past that the Thrashers have won games that they might not ought to have won thanks to goaltending, and it's caught up to the team.</p>
<p>Looking for some different fortunes, the Thrashers started Chris Mason Saturday night. His stay in the game was short lived, as while he was making a save he collided with <span>Chris Thorburn</span> and slid, legs akimbo, into the goalpost. Thanks to what is delicately being called a "lower body injury," (a sprained MCL)<a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-thrashers-blog/2011/01/17/mason-out-with-mcl-sprain-of-right-knee/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_thrashers_blog" target="_blank"> Mason is being placed on the IR and the Thrashers have recalled Peter Mannino from the Chicago Wolves.</a> Pavelec, then, is starting tonight., facing off against Scott Clemmensen. The Thrashers chased <span>Tomas Vokoun</span> the last time they met, which was also the last game that the Thrashers won, back on January 5th. Clemmensen is 3-1-0 with a 2.18 GAA over the Panthers' four game hot streak.</p>
<p>Despite the scoring woes, both <span>Andrew Ladd</span> and <span>Tobias Enstrom</span> are riding six game point streaks going back to the January 2nd victory over Montreal. Enstrom has a goal and nine assists during that time, and Ladd has four goals and three assists. <a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-thrashers-blog/2011/01/17/mason-goes-in-ir-mannino-recalled/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_thrashers_blog" target="_blank">A notable scratch for tonight is Zach Bogosian</a>. He'll be sitting in favor of Freddy Meyer. Bogosian is a -12 on the season and has been looking more than a little lost on-ice recently. Meyer will be skating with <span>Ron Hainsey</span>, and <span>Brent Sopel</span> will be skating with <span>Johnny Oduya</span>.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2011/1/17/2328208/atlanta-thrashers-at-florida-panthers-thrashers-trying-to-avoidLaura Astorian