And Another Step Back Toward the Brink

I got home from the Gladiators home opener and sat down to watch the game. It is going to be a short post tonight.

• The Rangers game suggested that the coach was the problem. TheTampa game suggests that our defensemen simply can't cut in the NHL. If the team continues to give up four or five goals per game we will have a new GM it is as simply as that.
• Our best defensemen right now is a short rookie from Sweden (who prevented Lecavalier from scoring on a semi-breakaway). At what point does Popovic get some ice time? Nobody else seems to have a clue in the defensive
• Bryan Little was finally on the ice for a goal against. He played well, but the shut out streak is over.
• Johan Hedberg was simply fantastic--I can't believe I just typed that about a guy who gave up 5 goals but it is true. Tampa was getting so many high quality shots that it was just a matter of time.
• Alexei Zitnik continued his sleep walk through the season. He was the ice for two against that I noticed and at one point simply feel down in the crease trying to play the puck with his foot. Has he beat any forward into the corner this season?
  
• Kovalchuk continues to play at a high level and would be mentioned as a potential MVP were he on a team with a winning record. The Hossa-Kozlov line was AWOL after the first.
• The Klee-Exelby combo had a rough night as well with Klee making two fine passes to the opposition.

Naming Names Season Update

Odd fact: Despite playing on Kovalchuk's line for a couple of games, Jim Slater has still not been on the ice for any Thrashers goals scored so far this season. Little was finally on the ice for a couple of goals against but he still remains the teams leader in the net goals for/goals against ratio. After a slow start Sterling's net number is even for the season.

Forwards	GF	GA	Net	GFA	GAA
Little	6	2	+4	3.14	1.05
Haydar	4	2	+2	4.72	2.36
Kozlov	5	4	+1	2.25	1.80
Sterling	4	4	E	2.42	2.42
White	8	9	-1	3.24	3.64
Kovalchuk	7	8	-1	2.57	2.94
Boulton	1	3	-2	1.88	5.65
Holik	4	7	-3	2.29	4.01
Hossa	4	7	-3	2.25	3.93
Dupuis	3	9	-6	1.16	3.48
Perrin	1	8	-7	0.48	3.85
Slater	0	13	-13	0.00	8.57
Larsen	2	15	-13	1.30	9.72

The move of Enstrom to Havelid's pairing seems to have stabilized that one pairing, but now that Zhitnik is partnered with McCarthy his numbers are continuing to plummet. McCarthy has also been on the ice for just a single Thrashers goal scored which is pretty bad for someone who is supposed to have an offensive dimension to his game.

Defense	GF	GA	Net	GFA	GAA
Enstrom	7	5	+2	2.69	1.92
Klee	4	10	-6	1.86	4.66
Exelby	5	12	-7	1.92	4.60
Havelid	8	15	-7	2.77	5.20
McCarthy	1	12	-11	0.44	5.27
Zhitnik	6	18	-12	2.01	6.03