Oct 15 2008
Sloppy play hurts Thrashers in loss to Wild
By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com
Wild 4, Thrashers 2
Top of the Slot: Ilya Kovalchuk scored his first goal of the season, but Minnesota took advantage of some sloppy play in the neutral zone to hand the Thrashers their first regulation loss of the young season.
The Good: Kovy found the net for his first of the season eight minutes into the first, off a nice feed from Ron Hainsey and Bryan Little — hey, that Hainsey fella is pretty good. In the third, it was Little’s turn, the second-year winger/center tipping home a Todd White pass at the near post to pull Atlanta within 3-2. Mathieu Schneider also assisted on Little’s score, his first point as a Thrasher. Atlanta started fast again, outshooting the Wild 9-6 in the first period and for the game, the shots were even at 26.
The Bad: The assist aside, Schneider had an otherwise tough night, logging four penalty minutes and finishing at minus-2. Defenseman Nathan Oystrick, playing in his first game of the season (first-round draft pick Zach Bogosian was a healthy scratch), committed a turnover that led to an odd-man rush and a goal for the Wild. Slava Kozlov and Jason Williams each were minus-2. Kari Lehtonen didn’t get a lot of help at times from his defense, but he wasn’t as crisp as in the first two games, allowing four goals on 26 shots.
View from the Sports Garage: Well, at least Kovy got on the board – he hit the post in Florida late on Saturday. Little continues his fantastic start to the season, and he played on his third different line in three games. Just wind him up and let him go. Little looks so much more confident and sure of himself than he did last season. But it wasn’t a pretty night, for sure. The Thrashers were sloppy with the puck. Lehtonen didn’t have much of a chance on a couple of the goals. The other two? Need to make those saves. I’m surprised Johan Hedberg didn’t get the start between the pipes. I think you’ll see Moose either Thursday or Saturday. Need to tighten up the play between the bluelines before the Devils roll into town Thursday. Don’t want to see the momentum from last weekend’s resounding start fade.
Next
Thrashers vs. Devils
7 p.m. Thursday
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