Thrashers.Today.Com

By Bud L. Ellis
thrashers.today.com

Blues 4, Thrashers 2

Top of the Slot: Up 2-1, the Thrashers hung young Ondrej Pavelec out to dry, subjecting the netminder to 47 shots as the Blues rallied to send Atlanta to its fifth loss in the past seven games.

The Good: Pavelec gets the loss and gave up three goals, but as was the case in last weekend’s loss to Columbus, the tally would’ve been far worse was it not for his stellar effort between the pipes. Down 1-0, Colby Armstrong tied the game with his fourth goal, off a Ron Hainsey assist, less than two minutes after the Blues grabbed an early advantage. Nic Havelid notched his first goal of the season, off assists from Slava Kozlov and Todd White, with 85 seconds left in the first.

The Bad: Where to begin … oh yeah, where we ALWAYS seem to look first: shots on goal. St. Louis 47, Atlanta 30. This team has been outshot in 21 of its 23 games this season. Penalties hurt this team time and time again, and Sunday was no exception: Nathan Oystrick got bumped off the puck, subsequently got called for hooking, and the Blues cashed in, snapping a 2-2 tie with 8:15 to go. The Thrashers looked lethargic and largely uninterested, despite the fact they were off Saturday while St. Louis played. D-man Mathieu Schneider injured his shoulder and likely will miss a week.

View from the Sports Garage: And to think, I nearly offered the suggestion of stopping by Philips Arena on our way home from a Thanksgiving retreat to the North Georgia mountains to check out the game. Boy, that would’ve been a downer type of ending to the holiday weekend, eh? Another wretched performance. That five-game winning streak is a thing of the past now – Atlanta is 1-5-1 since. Gotta think there are going to be some changes, and head coach John Anderson alluded to as much in his postgame comments. It stinks because this team is so capable of playing good hockey, and we saw it during the five-game streak. Now, the Thrashers have sunk to the bottom of the NHL standings as December dawns. Should they remain there by the end of the month, it will be time to look to 2009-10, and time to unload this roster.

Next
Thrashers at Canadians
7:30 p.m. Tuesday

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