Four straight for Thrashers as Atlanta smacks ‘Canes

Nov 10 2008

Published by bud006 at 8:04 am under Thrashers Recaps Edit This

By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

Thrashers 5, Hurricanes 2

Top of the Slot: The Thrashers rode two goals from Marty Reasoner and a four-goal unanswered streak to take complete control against the Southeast Division winners, running their winning streak to four games and pulling within four points of the division lead.

The Good: Reasoner hadn’t played well through the first 14 games of the season but boy he had a ton of jump and really looked good Sunday, scoring his second and third goals of the season, finishing at plus-2. Jason Williams scored his fourth goal in the past three games and added an assist. Ilya Kovalchuk scored his sixth goal of the season and also had a helper. Ron Hainsey added a goal and an assist. Bryan Little, Eric Perrin, Erik Christensen and Chris Thorburn each added an assist. In goal, it was Johan Hedberg and he was solid, making 35 saves.

The Bad: Kari Lehtonen still is not back, having not played in the past four games due to back problems and the flu. With four days off until Friday’s rematch with the Hurricanes, maybe Kari can finally get well. Slava Kozlov’s point-scoring streak ended at six games. Atlanta was outshot 37-22, and only mustered three shots inside the final 20 minutes.

View from the Sports Garage: Looking at the Southeast Division standings this morning, you’d never think the Thrashers had slogged their way through a miserable start to the season. This team is flying right now. Yes, the first two wins of this streak were against teams that aren’t very good. But any weekend during which you win at Buffalo and at Carolina is a really good weekend. We’re starting to see some guys get on track, like Williams, like Reasoner. It’s a byproduct of chemistry, of now having 15 games with each other under their belts. In a way, it stinks that this team doesn’t play again until Friday. They’re on a pretty good roll right now.