Atlanta Thrasher's Defense Causes Slide in The Standings

In the last ten games, the Atlanta Thrashers have established themselves as one of the three coldest teams in the Eastern Conference.

They are 3-6-1 in their last ten. That's as good as the Lightning, and one OT loss better than the Islanders.

Offensively, the Thrashers have been solid, scoring 31 goals in the last ten games. That makes an average of 3.1 goals per game. That's pretty much the amount they have been scoring for the entire season.

They are actually tied with San Jose for the second best offense in the NHL (3.22 goals per game) and are trailing the Capitals (3.57 goals per game).

The difference between these teams is that the Thrashers are 26th in the NHL in defense, with 3.11 goals against per game.

Defensive incapacity has been shown during their last ten games as well. Even though they have scored 31 goals, they have allowed 41, for an average of 4.1 goals against per game.

I don't care how good of an offense you have, you can not win a lot of games by allowing four goals every game. That's why the Thrashers have been losing.

That's the thing that bugs the fans the most. This team has a ton of offensive talent, but no talent defensively.

I'm not even going to call out Hedburg. I know that the goalie is the leader of the defense, but come on, the help he's getting in front of him is ridiculous.

The other night against Boston, when the Thrashers allowed three goals in 68 seconds was a defensive collapse, the Bruins were given too good of opportunities in front of the net.

Hopefully, this defense get's better, because this team isn't going to go far if it doesn't.

You can see more of my NHL opinions at Tips for Hockey