"The first game back from an extended road trip is always difficult".
I've heard it many times before, specifically in regards to the NHL. There are numerous theories as to why this happens. Some say it is the added responsibilities that await a player when arriving home. Some say that the road trips have very structured schedules and players return to their own schedules when arriving home. Finally, the added pressure of playing in front of the home crowd for the first time in awhile takes its toll. It is probably the combination of these factors. Right before the puck dropped, I turned to my daughter and warned her about this. 60 minutes of hockey later I looked prophetic.
As usual, we arrived early for this game. Skipping the Ticketmaster fees we purchased tickets at the box office. Knowing it was a matchup between Kovy and Ovie, we picked some seats down low, a couple rows off the ice in the corner behind the goal. Considering the Thrashers hot start and the competition, I was hoping for a little bit more buzz in the arena. Considering the Thrashers hadn't played at home in a couple weeks, it was a mid-week game and football season is still in full force, I guess it wasn't too surprising it was pretty tepid. I'm guessing there were around 12,000 in attendance. For once it was the upper arena that looked empty as the corporate seats were much fuller than usual.
The Thrashers didn't get off to a good start. An early poor line change resulted in an odd-man rush that the Capitals immediately turned into a 1-0 lead. The Thrashers answered quickly on a power play when a faceoff win resulted in an Afinogenov goal to tie the contest. Unfortunately, another turnover put the Caps back on top less than 4 minutes later. Literally seconds later it looked like the Capitals had taken a 3-1 lead but the Thrashers caught a break when it was ruled that Knuble kicked the puck in the net. The Thrashers caught a little life after that and Kovalchuk found some space and a loose puck in front of the net to tie the contest at 2-2 after a period. Both teams looked rather sloppy and goaltending was sub par. It looked like we were in for a long night. But at least the teams were tied after the first period.
The second period was a disaster, with Thrashers goalie, Pavelec, the main culprit. A soft "shot" FROM 180 FEET (that's the defensive faceoff dot) caught Pavelec by surprise when it bounced a bit in front of him. He wasn't ready and out of position and the puck ended up in the net. One of the worst, if not the worst, goals I've ever seen. Knowing the kid is young and one of the hopes for the future, I didn't let him have it despite the fact that he was only a few feet away. The other fans weren't quite so gracious. Just over a minute later, a loose puck in front of the Thrashers goal couldn't be corralled by his teammates and the puck was tapped passed Pavelec for an easy goal and the Caps were up 4-2. Pavelec looked uncomfortable. I begged and pleaded for Anderson to pull him immediately but apparently the coach wasn't interested in my opinions. When the Capitals scored again 14 seconds later, it took a microsecond for Anderson to wave Hedberg in to replace the shattered Pavelec. Remember that 180 foot goal AND the delayed decision by Anderson, it'll play a role before this is all said and done. Hedberg came in a played strong and seem to settle the team in front of him. But the damage was done and the Thrashers left the period trailing 5-2.
All we could hope for at this point was for the Thrashers to claw their way back into the contest one goal at a time. Just when a Thrashers penalty looked like an opportunity for the Capitals to seal the deal, Bogosian got the puck and sped down the right side right towards us. He then blistered a shot (this kid has an amazing wrist shot) passed Varlamov to cut the lead to 5-3. The Caps goalie wasn't exactly at the top of his game either. The Thrashers and Caps would trade opportunities for the next several minutes with me just hoping the Thrashers could get one more to make the last minutes exciting. There were a bunch of penalties called down the stretch and with the goalie pulled for another extra attacker, Kovalchuk made the most of it by cutting the lead to 1 with 39 seconds left. It was high drama time!
Ovechkin took a very foolish penalty much to the delight of the crowd including yours truly. Off to the box for the chicken to watch helplessly as his team tried desperately to hold on for the win. With 6 attackers to Washington's 3, the Thrashers had at least 3 good chances to tie the game. It just didn't happen as the last attempt went over the shoulder of Varlamov and above the crossbar as the last seconds ticked off.
The Thrashers lose by a goal. Was it the goal from 180 FEET? Was it the additional goal allowed by Pavelec after Anderson should have pulled him? Was it the turnovers in the first period? Regardless it wasn't a well played game, undoubtedly the worst by the Thrashers so far in this young season.
It's pretty obvious who my goats are for this game, Pavelec and Anderson. I also have to question the logic of playing Antropov, Kovalchuk and Afinogenov on the same line. While they played a part in both goals scored in the first, they were also on ice for both goals against. There just isn't enough defensive responsibility in that group. While I'm certain this move was designed to get the 2nd line scoring, I'm a lot more comfortable with Little on the 1st. Perhaps trying Kane on the first line might be a better choice. The kid does have pretty good defensive positioning. There is a reason he is getting some penalty killing time.
There were some positives to take away from this contest. First and foremost, the Thrashers shut down Ovechkin. He waa held off the scoresheet and managed a meager 4 shots mostly from bad angles. After years of watching this guys skate circles around the Thrashers and the rest of the league, this was a welcome sight. His Russian counterpart, Kovalchuk, was the best Thrasher on the ice. I'm shocked Afinogenov got 2nd star above him. Kovalchuk kept creating great scoring chances with his skates and his stick. Props also go out to Hedberg who came in and did exactly what he needed to do, not allowing the Caps another goal so his team had an opportunity to battle back. Hit of the night belonged to Evander Kane who plastered a Capitals face into the boards feet in front of me. Too bad an official made a horrible call and ruled it boarding. We were fortunate on this night that a majority of the action took place right in front of us.
From here it doesn't get any easier. The Sharks prolific offense comes to town on Saturday and the Thrashers need to regain their winning ways to avoid falling into a tailspin. They need to refocus and get back to playing a full 60 minute contest. It'll be interesting to see who is in net. I suspect and expect Hedberg. He's earned the right to another start. Pavelec should be back in net soon to keep his confidence up but the Thrashers need to go with the hottest hand because every point is going to be important.
Finally some not so pertinent observations:
- To the 50+ year old lady wearing 2 pounds of makeup, a short skirt and heels to a hockey game. Some things are not better in person. Please stay home and watch it on TV.
- To the parking lot guys once again trying to charge $8 instead of the $3 that was routine last year. Keep it up and I'll use MARTA more. I like riding with the homies.
- To Ticketmaster. So long bitches. I can purchase tickets at the box office and not pay one dollar of fees. If I had purchased the same tickets online for yesterdays game, I'd have almost $20 in fees. What does that $20 get me?
- To Thrashers/arena management that think a photographer needs to harass me every 30 feet for a photo "for the Thrashers". Please fire 3/4 of that staff and use the proceeds to get rid of the other annoying group, the 50/50 raffle pendlers. I get less panhandling outside on Marietta Street.
- I like boobs just as much as the next guy but the skimpy outfits you make the ice girls squeeze into are pretty embarassing. I've seen less nipple on a half-time Super Bowl show.
