Buffalo Falls Again to Resilient Thrashers Club
Three wins in a row and three solid performances in back-to-back games. I don't what John Anderson is doing differently than Bob Hartley and Don Waddell but he is getting a much stronger effort in these back to back games nights.
The Little-White-Kozzie line is red hot. They were a bit lucky on both Bryan Little goals but earlier this season they were working hard and not getting rewarded. Last night they were rewarded with a few fortunate bounces after creating offensive pressure. You can see their confidence is sky high right now.
Last Three Games: Bryan Little 3 Goals, 3 Assists = 6 points
Last seven Games: Slava Kozlov 6 Goals, 5 Assists = 11 points
Will opposition teams put their best checkers against the Kozlov line?
Will that open up the door for the Kovalchuk line perhaps?
Two rally wins in a row. Ideally you'd never like to fall behind in a game. Hedberg had a rough 2nd period and then made some quality stops in the 3rd. He's a great person but not necessarily the best backup goalie in the NHL--that has been noticeable his last two games.
Special Teams: Both clubs PP units went 2 for 3 which pushes the Thrashers PP% rankings up to 12th in the NHL but the Atlanta PK has now fallen to dead last (30th).
I'm not going to post the team Corsi numbers today, the main story was that the Exelby-Hainsey pairing had a rough time in terms of being outshot badly at ES. Hainsey bailed out Exelby a few times and played a huge 28 minutes. I listened to part of this game on the radio while driving to play my own hockey game, but Valabik seems to have played better.
Real East Standing
+7 NYR
+7 MON
+6 BUF
+4 CAR
+4 MON
+4 NJD
+2 WSH
+0 OTT
+0 TOR
+0 TBL
-1 PHI
-2 ATL
-3 FLA
-4 NYI
The Little-White-Kozzie line is red hot. They were a bit lucky on both Bryan Little goals but earlier this season they were working hard and not getting rewarded. Last night they were rewarded with a few fortunate bounces after creating offensive pressure. You can see their confidence is sky high right now.
Last Three Games: Bryan Little 3 Goals, 3 Assists = 6 points
Last seven Games: Slava Kozlov 6 Goals, 5 Assists = 11 points
Will opposition teams put their best checkers against the Kozlov line?
Will that open up the door for the Kovalchuk line perhaps?
Two rally wins in a row. Ideally you'd never like to fall behind in a game. Hedberg had a rough 2nd period and then made some quality stops in the 3rd. He's a great person but not necessarily the best backup goalie in the NHL--that has been noticeable his last two games.
Special Teams: Both clubs PP units went 2 for 3 which pushes the Thrashers PP% rankings up to 12th in the NHL but the Atlanta PK has now fallen to dead last (30th).
I'm not going to post the team Corsi numbers today, the main story was that the Exelby-Hainsey pairing had a rough time in terms of being outshot badly at ES. Hainsey bailed out Exelby a few times and played a huge 28 minutes. I listened to part of this game on the radio while driving to play my own hockey game, but Valabik seems to have played better.
Real East Standing
+7 NYR
+7 MON
+6 BUF
+4 CAR
+4 MON
+4 NJD
+2 WSH
+0 OTT
+0 TOR
+0 TBL
-1 PHI
-2 ATL
-3 FLA
-4 NYI
posted by The Falconer at
11:09 AM
2 Comments:
I saw some of that game, and watched my cell phone too, as my wife hates watching hockey.
How do you think Kovy is playing, Falconer? Do you think that he is trying less, or trying to be more of a team player? The trade rumours have already started about Kovy. Billy Jaffee was on NHL Live yesterday, and he was even speculating about whether or not Kovalchuk will stay or ask to be traded. I think that if we are not in the playoffs this year, or if we get in and have a repeat like we did with the Rangers, then I think that Kovy will ask to be traded. 7 years and no significant progress or no Stanley Cup would make anyone want to be traded.
By
Anonymous, at 5:22 PM
I think Kovalchuk's three point game quieted some of the "slacking" talk, but the trade rumors will only die when either 1) he re-signs next summer or 2) he is traded. Until either happens the rumors will not go away.
By
The Falconer, at 3:53 PM
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