Hotlanta Hockey: Atlanta Thrashers Week in Review

The Thrashers have certainly had an eventful week.

Starting on Sunday with the proclamation from coach John Anderson that he didn’t know “our give a crap level is at like zero”, to getting the tar kicked out of them Saturday night in an 8-4 beat-down at the hands of the Florida Panthers, the Thrashers’ week has pretty much been a microcosm of their season.

Well, let’s get to the dirty laundry of the week that was for the Atlanta Thrashers.

Game 40: vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (12-19-10) 1/4/09

“I’ve got to question whether anybody cares in that locker room right now,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said after this game. “It’s a joke.”

After witnessing this debacle, it would be tough for Thrashers fans not to agree. In front of a crowd of 10,750 at Phillips Arena, Atlanta came out and played a lackadaisical game that perfectly demonstrates what’s wrong with the team.

This victory, a 4-1 win for the Lightning, was the first in two years in Atlanta for the Lightning, as well as got the Bolts out of the basement of the Southeast division.

The Thrashers, who had won their previous game against Vancouver, hasn’t won consecutive games since their five game winning streak in early November. Since then, they are 6-14-3.

The players seemed to agree with their coach about the effort. “We need to dig deep and come out with better efforts,” winger Chris Thorburn said, echoing the sentiment that his teammates surely share.

This game also displayed an act of true hockey grit, when Tampa defenseman Andrej Meszaros played in the game, despite needing 64 stitches to close a gash under his nose after he was hit by a puck. Perhaps the Thrashers could take a lesson in determination and courage from this young man.

Game 41: at Pittsburgh Penguins (20-19-4) Jan. 6, 2009

This game was more of the same for the Thrashers, who were defeated 3-1 in the first game of a three-game road trip by the Penguins. Evgeni Malkin had three assists, and Petr Sykora scored two goals.

The lack of effort chastised by coach Anderson in the previous game was once again evident in this one, as they waited until the third period to show any spark. They managed 13 shots in the period, and got a goal from Ilya Kovalchuk, but it was a case of “too little, too late.”

Ilya Kovalchuk after the game said that the Thrashers lacked consistent effort.

“That’s our major problem right now. We don’t have enough talent in this locker room to play one game easy and one game hard, you know?”

Colby Armstrong attempted to spark some life from his teammates when he engaged in fisticuffs with Ruslan Fedotenko. This, unfortunately, did not end well for Armstrong, as he was felled in one punch. It also did not end well with Fedotenko, who is out four to six weeks with a broken hand.

This is just one more sad story in a miserable season for the Thrashers, and the emotion of it was perfectly conveyed by coach Anderson when he said “there are no words to describe this disappointment. We have to pick ourselves up every day and keep pushing. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, because nobody else will.”

The loss dropped Atlanta to 4-12-1 in their all-time series against the Penguins, and they have not won in their last four meetings with the Pens.

Game 42: at New Jersey Devils (24-14-3) Jan. 8, 2009

The Devils were looking to go into their six game road trip with a quick and easy victory over the Thrashers at the Prudential Center. Needless to say, things did not go according to plan.

Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves, and he notched his first shutout of the season as the Thrashers stunned the Devils 4-0 in front of a crowd of nearly 17,000.

Ilya Kovalchuk helped the team with a goal and an assist, racking up his 35th and 36th points in his past 31 games for the Thrashers, and Jim Slater and Marty Reasoner also added goals.

“It’s always nice to get a win,” Kovalchuk said. “Hopefully in the second half of the season we will get way more points than we did in the first half. This was a total team effort. Guys were fighting to finish checks, and Kari gave us a hell of a game.”

In a quick editorial aside, it was nice to see the Thrashers come out and bite the Devils on the rear end in a game the Devils thought they could just waltz in and take the two points in. The Thrashers even got net-minder Scott Clemmensen yanked after the second period.

Even without Bryan Little, who missed his second straight game with a rib injury, the Thrashers came out and played a very solid game. Even though they didn’t score in the first period, they still showed a lot of heart, a promising sign that maybe the second half of the season may not be as bad as the first half.

Also, before this game, Kovalchuk was named as an Eastern Conference reserve to the All-Star Game in Montreal.

Game 43: at Florida Panthers (20-16-6) Jan. 10, 2009

When things are going wrong, it seems that every step forward is followed by two steps back.

This is exactly what happened to the Thrashers Saturday night, as they were belted 8-4 by the Panthers in the last game of their quick three game road trip. The Thrashers tied the game at 3-3, but then the Panthers scored five straight goals to put the game out of reach.

Kari Lehtonen, a game after shutting out the Devils 4-0, wound up giving up seven goals on 27 shots in the contest and got yanked with about eight minutes left in the game.

“I don’t think there’s anything that stands out,” Lehtonen said. “But when there’s so many goals, that’s pretty bad. We have to forget about this and go forward. It feels bad after the great game we had in New Jersey.”

Todd White, who scored a goal in the game, added “the third period we just fell apart. We made way too many mistakes and they capitalized on them.”

Bryan Little also missed the contest, his third in a row.

Transactions for the Week

-On Jan. 4, the Thrashers assigned defenseman Zach Bogosian to Chicago of the AHL for conditioning purposes. They also assigned Scott Lehman to Chicago.

Random Notes

-Bryan Little will play on the Sophomore squad in the Sophomore-Rookie game during All-Star Weekend in Montreal. He will join Ilya Kovalchuk as representatives of the squad at the festivities (Kovalchuk will play in the big game on Sunday).

-The Thrashers next game is Wednesday, when they will skate at Phillips Arena against the Ottawa Senators at 7:30 PM EST. For tickets, visit the Thrashers’ official Web site.