Not Your Father’s Thrashers

The Penguins are in the southeast tonight taking on the Atlanta Thrashers who have since their inception into the league nine years ago only made the playoffs one time and that was only to be swept hastily by the Rangers in 2007. This Atlanta team that Pittsburgh will see tonight however bears little to no resemblance to that squad from just two short years ago as the Thrashers are now that number one scoring offense in the NHL at 3.61 goals per game on average. With a power play unit in the top five and a penalty kill in the top ten, this Atlanta hockey team is going to be a tough test for the Penguins who are reeling a bit after that wretched performance in Ottawa Thursday night.

Despite welcoming back two key injured guys to the lineup, the Penguins struggled to generate much offense against the Senators aside from the first breakout of the game and the final three minutes of garbage time. Those two players will only add to Pittsburgh’s growing depth however as after the game Head Coach Dan Bylsma said: “It was our first game for Max in a long, long time and he brought his energy and he was effective, he was effective in the offensive zone and I liked that. Sergei, we asked him to play a lot of minutes tonight. It’s tough for him to get back in there but definitely our power play’s a bit more dangerous with him out there.” Pittsburgh will need to see an improvement in their possession time as well as a much better performance from the power play unit as they are still in the midst of an abysmal stretch on the man advantage. This game will feature another of the league’s top talents in Ilya Kovalchuk who can light the lamp with the best of them so it could be a high scoring affair.

The puck is dropped and the action gets underway with Brooks Orpik back on the ice after missing four games with an undisclosed lower body injury. The lines are getting shuffled up a big by Head Coach Dan Bylsma tonight as Sidney Crosby and Bill Guerin will welcome Maxime Talbot as their new linemate after Sid and Evgeni Malkin were split up in the 3rd period of the game in Ottawa. This one gets started with some fancy stick work down the wall by Malkin carrying the puck into the Thrashers end to get a quality shot for Sergei Gonchar stopped routinely by former Penguin Johan Hedberg. Atlanta gets a nice opportunity off of a Pittsburgh turnover as Marc-Andre Fleury lays out on the edge of the crease to stop a Slava Kozlov shot and warrant the whistle. Malkin draws an interference call in the Atlanta zone on Zach Bogosian to put to Pens on the man advantage here in the early going. Some wonderful work in the zone by the Penguins power play unit pays off as a shot from the point by Martin Skoula finds the net behind Hedberg for a 1-0 Penguins lead. Fleury stands tall at the top of the crease to deny a nice wrist shot by Bryan Little with his glove hand midway through period one. A penalty is given to Sergei Gonchar for kneeing in the neutral zone and the Pens will be on the kill. On the penalty kill Maxime Talbot gets on his horse and carries the puck into the Thrashers zone to get a great shorthanded shot on net. The center drive has been producing some nice chances for the Pens tonight as Jordan Staal has been flying to the net and drawing defensemen to create more opportunities for the perimeter players to get pucks on net.

The 1st period comes to a close with the Penguins ahead 1-0 with the difference in the game thus far being the power play tally by the Pens. Pittsburgh’s defense has looked much improved from their performance in Ottawa as guys are cutting down the angles and forcing the puck to the wall. Period two gets started with a crazy good chance for Chris Bourque and Jordan Staal as Hedberg slams the door with a great toe save. Hedberg is called upon again to make a handful of pad saves down low on Crosby and Guerin. This game is really turning into a track meet as have many Atlanta games this season with chances being traded in a fast paced back and forth style of hockey. Mike Rupp has been great tonight with soft dumps into the zone in the dump and chase game as well as lacing some great shots toward the Atlanta net. The pace has definitely picked up as there has been about six minutes of whistleless hockey before a puck is fed by Matt Cooke onto the tape of Skoula who puts another one by Hedberg to make it 2-0 Pens. In a game with this type of offensive power, it’s quite atypical that Martin Skoula has stepped up to put the biscuit behind Hedberg. An interference penalty to Craig Adams immediately after the goal puts Atlanta back on the power play for a second time. After killing off the penalty things return to their fast pace as chance after chance from end finally results in the hard work paying off for Malkin who just flings a wrist shot through Hedberg for a 3-0 Penguins lead. Fleury makes another nice save on the first quality chance for Kovalchuk on the night with his glove. A phantom tripping call on Orpik gives Atlanta another chance to get back into the game on the man advantage but the Penguins again deny the Thrashers. A breakaway for the Penguins and Maxime Talbot earns him a penalty shot as he is hauled down on the way to the net. On the penalty shot Hedberg comes way out of the crease to challenge and Talbot misses the net wide. Some violence breaks out nearing the end of the period as Evander Kane slashes Deryk Engelland behind the net who takes except and the two tussle with Engelland landing a pair of nice right hand to the mug of Kane. As if that wasn’t enough action to finish the period, Fleury makes an acrobatic saves on Maxim Afinogenov to maintain his clean sheet.

Pittsburgh heads to the final twenty minutes with a 3-0 lead having controlled much of the action in the 2nd period. The speed of period two has carried over into the final frame as Atlanta comes charging into the Pittsburgh end with purpose as Fleury executes a great poke check on Bryan Little. Fleury continues his sparkling play as he dismisses a shot from Pavel Kubina with the toe of his skate. Atlanta wins a faceoff and sends Afinogenov down the ice on a set play as he gets near the Penguins goal a great play by Ben Lovejoy harmlessly escorts him into the end boards. Kovalchuk mixes it up with Cooke and Cooke gets the jersey over his head and the two exchange a few fruitless punches before the officials break things up and send the two combatants off. As a result, the Penguins will be on a four minute power play with two instigating minors added to the laundry list of infractions by Kovalchuk as he is sent to the dressing room. A broken stick on a great chance for Malkin as his stick is slashed in half by Chris Thorburn leads to a two on one for the Thrashers who capitalize with a shorthanded goal by the man who should have been penalized to close the gap to 3-1. Malkin had words with the officials about his stick being halved by the overhead whack, but his complaints fall on deaf ears. A fantastic chance in the slot for Malkin strikes the cross bar over Hedberg’s shoulder and flies up into the netting to keep the faceoff in the Atlanta zone as the game winds down to about five minutes remaining. With Hedberg on the bench for a sixth attacker, the Thrashers get a goal by Afinogenov to pull within one at 3-2 with under twenty seconds left in the game.

Pittsburgh holds on to their 3-2 lead to end the futility on the road breaking their four game losing streak away from the Mellon stemming back to their west coast swing two weeks ago. There is a lot of positive to take away from tonight’s game in particular the presence of Brooks Orpik and what his skill set brings to the Penguins defensive repertoire. Fleury played an outstanding game tonight as well stopping 31 of 33 shots on the night. The Pens will remain in the southeastern portion of the country for another couple of days as they await their Monday night contest with the Florida Panthers. It has been whispered that Tyler Kennedy is targeting that as his return date as more and more of the Penguins wounded return to the lineup.

Tags: Atlanta Thrashers, Bill Guerin, Brooks Orpik, Bryan Little, Chris Thorburn, Craig Adams, Dan Bylsma, Deryk Engelland, Evander Kane, Evgeni Malkin, Florida Panthers, Ilya Kovalchuk, Johan Hedberg, Jordan Staal, Marc Andre Fleury, Martin Skoula, Matt Cooke, Maxim Afinogenov, Maxime Talbot, Mike Rupp, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Pavel Kubina, Sergei Gonchar, Sidney Crosby, Slava Kozlov, Tyler Kennedy, Zach Bogesian