Gimme 5: Thrashers extend winning streak to five

Nov 15 2008

Published by bud006 at 6:12 am under Thrashers Recaps Edit This

By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

Thrashers 3, Hurricanes 2

Top of the Slot: Break up the Thrashers! One of the NHL’s hottest team made it five in a row Friday night, tying a franchise record for longest winning streak by downing division-rival Carolina for the second time in five days.

The Good: Maybe Marty Reasoner needs to skate against the Canes all season. Reasoner scored his fourth goal of the season, his third in two games against Carolina, to open the scoring midway through the first period. Eric Perrin netted his first goal of the season early in the second. Slava Kozlov gave the Thrashers a 4-2 lead 4:12 into the third, in the dying seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage. Bryan Little, Ron Hainsey, Eric Boulton, Jim Slater and Colby Armstrong notched assists. Johan Hedberg was solid in goal, turning away 27 shots to earn the victory. Ilya Kovalchuk didn’t score, but he led the team with seven shots.

The Bad: The Thrashers allowed two power-play goals, and made life tough on themselves into the game when Boris Valabik took a holding penalty with under five minutes left and Atlanta clinging to a one-goal lead. Kari Lehtonen did not play again, but hey, the Thrashers are perfect since Kari left the lineup, so does anybody care? The Thrashers were outshot (again) 29-25, but again, a win is a win. We shall not complain!

View from the Sports Garage: If you’ve been away for a couple of weeks, traveling on business or maybe taking a vacation, you’d be shocked if you looked at the NHL standings this morning. There sits Atlanta, 7-7-2 on the season, six points out of the Southeast Division lead. The past three victories – one against Buffalo and two against Carolina – really have been impressive. Another good performance Friday night, where the Thrashers played strong hockey in their offensive zone, were solid on the blueline, got good goaltending … impressive to play like this against Carolina. That’s two wins in hand against one of the teams in the Southeast. Any win in division play is big. Need to continue the momentum into Philly Sunday. This Thrashers team is vastly different from the one the Flyers embarrassed 7-0 at Philips Arena last month.