After shootout victory Thrashers embark on last road trip of season
Here are just a few random, passing thoughts that I have following Sunday’s 5-4 shootout win over the Ottawa Senators. I’ll just toss them out there for you and you may deal with them as you may…add yours if you’d like
First off, I would seriously like to know just what it is with the Thrashers and 2-goal leads. Yesterday Atlanta held leads of 3-1 and 4-2, but the Senators were still able to drag them past regulation anyway.
By my count, yesterday was the fifth straight time they’ve fail to properly care for that kind of advantage when they’ve had it. Twice they’ve lost in regulation, the other three they’ve won, but required overtime or a shootout.
Thrashers captain Andrew Ladd, seen here in action against Vancouver last Friday, says his team needs to learn how to play with the lead (Photo Michelle Rivers)
At least this time was one of those that we were able to celebrate a victory…and we in Thrasherville have come to know all too well that when it comes to this team and wins, you get what you get and you don’t pitch a fit.
To that point, Thrashers captain Andrew Ladd opined after the game. “It’s still frustrating to give up a two-goal lead in the third. At some point we have to learn to play with the lead and not give up two goals.
“But we wanted two points and we got them.”
It was the 27th time the Thrashers have played beyond the scheduled 60 minutes during a game. That’s greater than one-third of the 75 games played so far. Atlanta has won 15 of those games, five in a shootout.
Just what does that mean in the big scheme of things? Well, consider this…the Thrashers have now netted 76 points for the season, or a points winning percentage of .507%.
However, given that their opponents have won 31 times in regulation, 12 times in OT and15 times have force overtime before losing to us…that means they’ve collectively skated away with 101 of a possible 150 points so far this season. That’s a “points losing” percentage of .673.
In the second half of the season alone, Atlanta has allowed the opposition 52 of the possible 68 points, or a points losing percentage of .765%.
In earning points 75 and 76 this year, coach Craig Ramsay has now match the total points total of John Anderson in his first season behind the bench. He now has seven games left in which to try and equal the 83 Anderson coached the Thrashers to in his last season here.
If you wish to go back to the first full season Bob Hartley coached here, which was 2003-04, he was able to coach the team to 74 points. However, he had a little more than half a season the year prior after he was hired on. Also, they didn’t have the benefit of shootouts to determine the outcome of games back then.
If you want a more “apples to apples” comparison, if you remove the 5 gimmick points awarded for shootout wins, the Thrashers would have 71 points right now if they played under the same rules as prior to the lockout.
After celebrating their shootout win over the Ottawa Senators, the Thrashers will now take off on a five-game road trip. It will be their last games away from home this season (AP Photo/John Amis)
In allowing four goals to Ottawa Sunday, Atlanta has now given up a total of 246 for the season. That’s 10 off of last year’s 256. The season before that they gave up 280.
They’ve scored 210 goals so far…and will need 24 goals in the last seven games to match the 234 scored a year ago. They produced 257 goals during the 2008-09 campaign.
With their -36 goals for/goals against numbers, it looks like the Thrashers will not continue the downward trend of that stat over the last couple of seasons. During the dable that was the 2007-08 season in which they allowed 56 more goals than they scored, the GF/GA deficit was cut to -23 and -22 in the past two years.
The 28 shots allowed to the Sens marked the seventh consecutive game in which they’ve held their opponent to fewer than 30 SOG. Just prior to that streak they gave up exactly 30 to New Jersey. In fact, since the All Star game the defense has allowed the opposition 30 or fewer shots 15 times in 23 games played.
Their record is 8-12-3 during that time.
The Thrashers will now embark on a five game road trip before closing out the season with two home games. During their travels, they will take on five teams that all currently hold on to a playoff position.
Montreal and the New York Rangers each have 87 points and have the sixth and seventh spots in the Eastern Conference. Boston recently clinched a spot and lead the Northeast Division with 94 points. Nashville’s 92 points puts them in sixth place out west while the Flyers own the east’s top spot with 100.
While they won’t be able to knock any one of those teams out of the playoffs during this year’s ‘Spring Spoiler Tour’, the Thrashers will at least have a chance to help bump them down a peg ot two.
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76 comments Add your comment
tonyb
March 28th, 2011
5:29 pm
Your not going to hear a lot of stuff on ownership change. Parties keep that stuff hush, hush. One, there are non disclosure agreements signed to put a gag on each party. NHL and ASG will play everything close to the vest, as yes indeed, they want to sell tickets for next year.
When Arthur Blank bought the Falcons, no one new the deal was even in the works until it was announced. We may get info if a party goes into an exclusive negotiation period with the ASG, but even that may remain quiet. One day we will get a headline, and hopefully it will be that the team has been sold to local buyers, and all is well.
Red Light
March 28th, 2011
5:35 pm
Imagine if this five-game road trip actually had come when there was something at stake. At Montreal, at Philadelphia, at Boston, at Nashville and at New York Rangers. How confident would you have been if this team was within four points of Buffalo, rather nine points behind?
Five points by Buffalo, including just one win, eliminates Atlanta.
Right on
March 28th, 2011
5:42 pm
I agree, ditch the red jersey’s
Chuck
March 28th, 2011
5:49 pm
Montreal hasn’t scored a goal in 3 games and the media is torching their butts just as the Thrashers roll in. Not good for the Thrashers. Meanwhile, Buffalo is cruising into useless Leafs territory, also not good for the Thrashers. The worst thing that could happen is for the Thrashers to wind up in 9th place, out of the playoffs and then rewarded with the worst draft pick out of the non-playoff teams.
Brendan
March 28th, 2011
6:07 pm
Chuck, I agree in principal. But any team that holds pick # 12, # 13, or # 14 has something to deal … if someone up in the 20’s wants to move down. Let’s say they’ve got pick # 39. Moving from # 14 back to # 22, to go get # 39, might not be so bad, assuming there’s absolutely no one of noteworthy value at # 12, or # 13, or # 14., etc. Or, better still, move pick # 12 in the draft … for a Top six forward or a 2-3 defender, with years left on his deal. Atlanta doesn’t really know how to properly develop talent, so this might actually be the best Thrasher fans can hope for, in terms of a draft.
Red Light, are you serious? Atlanta once owned the rights to Stephane Robidas?
Brendan
March 28th, 2011
6:08 pm
Every time I see Chris Kunitz, Red Light, I think about how we once had him within our fold. Bygones.
Red Light
March 28th, 2011
6:21 pm
I am serious Brendan. Oct. 4, 2002.
Yeah, it’s funny that the Habs torch the Wild for eight goals last weekend and then get shutout in three straight games, and have gone scoreless for 186 minutes and five seconds. They have been shutout nine times this season, also a new record for the franchise.
Big Time Suzie
March 28th, 2011
6:22 pm
Hey ya’ll. first time commenting here. I really hope we dont get new owners and I hope Wadell stays also. They really have improved the team so much! We are moving in the right direction! It’s just like in lord of the rings when Aragorn said “there is always hope” and when Gandolf said “is it secret, is it safe” We just need an NFL player or two to tryout for the thrashers like Ocho Cinco is trying out for mls team.
glovesave29
March 28th, 2011
6:27 pm
RO – reds are already gone for next season
Tom Lysiak
March 28th, 2011
8:25 pm
It is amazing to me that as anemic as our offense has been at times this year….we lead the league in fewest times shut out this year. Once.
Toronto leads the league in being shut out 11 times and Washington has been shut out 10 times.
We are 17th in the league with a 2.73 GF. Washington is 20th in the league with a 2.64 GF. Toronto is 23rd in the league with a 2.59 GF.
KLS1
March 28th, 2011
9:11 pm
3 things needed…
Ditch the red jerseys.
Pray for a new owner.
Have the patience of Abe.
Brendan
March 28th, 2011
10:32 pm
Rawhide, I have you, officially, at 88-points, 2nd in SE Division, and 8th in the Eastern Conference, from preseason picks, with a 38-32-12 record. You’re still alive in the contest. Gotta get a win in Montreal.
B. Thenet
March 28th, 2011
10:35 pm
Smoothie hit part of it: Conditioning is a problem, the main reason being that Ramsay shuts it down to 3 lines late in games. Our guys are getting outworked by fresher legs late in the game.
I get the feeling the team is just going to fall apart on this road trip.
Rawhide
March 29th, 2011
12:21 am
Good evening all. I had the chance to gather some answers and quotes for two of the Thrashers recently and will share them with you in the coming days.
Tomorrow I’ll be posting my interview with Tim Stapleton in which he discusses his play recently and his thoughts looking into next season. Later in the week I share with you Mark Stuart’s thinking on why he decided to extend his stay in Atlanta beyond this season.
Gwinnett Fred
March 29th, 2011
12:34 am
First of all – nice blog going – some great conversation.
A previous point of mine still stands. You don’t wipe out Detriot and have the 6 game win streak against the teams we did without a pretty fair amount of talent. We need more, but there is enough here to begin with.
The bad periods turn into bad games which turn into bad stretches.
I think the missing ingredient is mental toughness. I was hoping Buff, Ladd, etc would have helped in that area and I think they did early on, but it didn’t last. Not sure if that’s coaching or on ince leadership, but somebody that is paid to figure it out needs to figure it out.
As for certain players that can hit the road before next year:
Antropov: Never seen someone so physically intimidating be such a wuss on the ice. It looks like he’s skating constantly with a bad back. And when he shoots or passes, I swear it looks like he’s playing with a warped stick blade or something – it never goes right where it needs to.
Dvorak: Talk about someone out there just going thru the motions
Oduya: Can’t put my finger on it, but he just doesn’t impress me and except for a 2 minute span in a single game this year, hasn’t scored a goal!
As for building blocks:
Wheeler is a keeper
Thorburn is the hardest worker on the team
Bogosian has the talent, needs to be coached up
Little is the teams best forward and needs consistency
Kane needs to play a little more under control, but that should come
Anyway, they show signs at times like they can produce and other times they are heartless. This goes back to mental toughness I believe.
Oh well – that was a lot of typing, so just call it my nickels worth!
Later Thrasher Fans!
World Be Free
March 29th, 2011
7:27 am
Conditioning and the fact that the Thrashers have very little NHL depth, which was a subject we talked about at the beginning of this season. The top players on this team are gassed because they do not have organizational depth to rely on. Years of poor drafting and development.
Dump the red jerseys – sorry Biltong and Sara.
Fred-Thorburn IS the hardest worker on the team by far-too bad he lacks NHL talent, but he’s a keeper because he never stops. Are you listening Mr. Stewart?
World Be Free
March 29th, 2011
7:28 am
Oduya will be a bargaining chip this summer.
glovesave29
March 29th, 2011
7:38 am
Fred – Antro IS playing with a bad hip, so I am giving him a pass this season. A summer of rest will do him good.
Kane is going to be a stud. He just needs to ditch the outdside / inside move he tries on every rush. The motor never stops and I like his attitude. Did anyone else catch the way he and Burmi were playing “lacrosse” during warmups? GREAT hand / eye coordination.
Reebok has issued the catalog to retailers for the next season…the red jersey is GONE. LA is dumping the purple and adding a new road jersey. Ottawa is dumping the “Sens” third and adding a heritage uni. Dallas is offering a new third. Edmonton is adding a retro white. Florida is getting new unis without so much striping, and the Panther is only shown waist up. Nashville is getting a total re-design. The Isles are getting a new third. Pittsburgh is getting a new third. Tampa is getting a total redesign and look like a blue version of the Wings. Toronto is adding a heritage third.
Red Light
March 29th, 2011
8:09 am
A very interesting schedule tonight around the league.
Buffalo at Toronto
A Sabres win virtually eliminates the Leafs and can pull Buffalo closer to the 6th spot in the conference.
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh
The battle for the top spot in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference
Chicago at Boston
Back to back games for the Hawks who reside in 8th out West and the Bruins are close to clinching the NE division.
Atlanta at Montreal
Habs need a win desperately to end skid and to stay ahead of Buffalo. Thrashers need a win to keep flickering hopes alive.
Carolina at Washington
Canes are in must win situation being 5 points behind Buffalo and Caps are seeking East’s top spot too.
Vancouver at Nashville
A Preds win and a Coyotes loss would move Nashville into the 5th spot (maybe 4th if Kings loses too) of the Western Conference. Vancouver, which doesn’t seem to know how to coast, can coast to the finish line if they wish.
Dallas at Phoenix
A virtual must win for the Stars, while the Yotes look to gain ground on the Sharks for first in the Pacific.
Enjoy.
World Be Free
March 29th, 2011
8:27 am
Red Light-thanks for the recap on tonight’s schedule. Habs/Thrashers should be the most interesting game of the night.
Anyone see the Detroit/Black Hawks game last night? That was a playoff game, Marian Hossa was the skating star and Joey MacDonald the goaltending star. Great game
ThrashDawg
March 29th, 2011
8:56 am
Good to hear about the red jerseys being gone next year. I never have understood why with us being the Thrashers, named after the state bird the brown thrasher, why we did not incorporate more brown into the uniforms. Hey, if UPS bought the team I bet there would be alot more brown everywhere! Wishful thinking…
KLS1
March 29th, 2011
9:02 am
If the red jersey is in fact gone, that will be the best news coming out of this franchise in a month.
Rawhide
March 29th, 2011
9:03 am
Good morning everyone…as promised, here is my writeup on Tim Stapleton.
Old Time Hockey
March 29th, 2011
11:10 am
Never understood the introduction of the red jerseys right after calling the arena blueland. Welcome to blueland…well…not really BLUEland…more like…uh…oh heck, I don’t know WHAT they were thinking.
R. Stroz
April 1st, 2011
1:25 am
LAST
Rawhide
April 4th, 2011
9:21 am
R. Stroz – Nope