Atlanta Thrashers Dynasty (BAGM NHL10)

[kingalexander]

Penguins steal win from Thrashers


Sidney Crosby scores on Kari Lehtonen during a 3-2 win for the Penguins.

11/21/09
Associated Press


(Atlanta, GA) - Sidney Crosby led the Pittsburgh Penguins from a 2-0 deficit in the first period with a goal and an assist for a comeback win over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night.

Jordan Staal started the comeback for Pittsburgh in the second period with his goal that broke the shutout run of Atlanta goaltender Kari Lehtonen.

The 2-1 lead for Atlanta soon went away as Sidney Crosby assisted on the tying goal from Pascal Dupuis in the third period.

Crosby added his game winner at 15:41 to make the game 3-2 for the Penguins.

But before the Pens took control, the Thrashers had an impressive first two periods against the Stanley Cup champions that brought the first two goals of the game.

Fourth liner Rich Peverley opened the scoring with his first goal of the season at 6:57 followed by a powerful shot from Pavel Kubina for goal number two of the game, and his fifth of the year.

The comeback win by Pittsburgh was also the first win for rookie goaltender David Brown. In only his second career game, Brown managed to steal a win from one of the highest scoring teams in the league.

Newly acquired defenseman Anton Volchenkov also made a big impact tonight as he earned two assists during the game, helping out on Staal's and Dupuis' goals.

"They played better than us, we didn't have our game. It's that simple" said head coach John Anderson, who seemed very upset with the perfrmance of his team.

Quote:

"I haven't been very vocal about certain players so far but I think our captains need to step up and start leading the team. I didn't give Ilya the captain role just because he is a goal scorer, because we haven't seen a whole tone of that this year, but because he can bring up the team and that's something we need. I didn't like a single thing about the game tonight."

Captain Ilya Kovalchuk declined to comment on the statement made by his coach.

Atlanta will hope to break the slump as they face the Tampa Bay Lightning with Kari Lehtonen continuing his run in net.

[kingalexander]

Armstrong hat trick seals win




11/22/09
Associated Press

Atlanta, GA - It looks like the rumored locker room spat between captain Ilya Kovalchuk and head coach John Anderson didn't affect the rest of the team as they focused on the game ahead against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Relying on other forwards to step up and produce for the slumping Kovalchuk, the Thrashers were hoping to string some wins together after dropping two back to back losses to Pittsburgh and Boston.

Today looked like the start of the winning streak as Colby Armstrong scored three goals for his first hat-trick of the season as the Thrashers defeated the Lightning, 3-1.

Armstrong's first goal came at 11:01 on a powerplay to tie the game after Atlanta gave up a shorthanded goal to Jeff Halpern on the same man advantage seconds earlier at 10:32.

He added his sixth goal of the year during the second period as Tobias Enstrom earned his second assist of the night as the Thrashers took a 2-1 lead over the Lightning.

Mike Smith managed to keep Atlanta off the scoreboard for a good amount of time until Armstrong scored his third goal of the night at 13:14 for the 3-1 win in front of a sold out crowd at the Philips Arena.

Armstrong has now taken the leading scorer spot for Atlanta, passing Bryan Little who has six so far this year.

Atlanta goaltender Kari Lehtonen once again pulled off an impressive game only allowing one goal on 17 shots by Tampa Bay, and will look to add another win against the Detroit Red Wings.

[kingalexander]

Kovalchuk Dismantles Red Wings



11/25/09
Associated Press

(Detroit, MI) -- For lack of a better saying, Ilya Kovalchuk blew up tonight.

After going the first 19 games with only five goals, many were expecting Kovalchuk would slowly but surely regain his scoring prowess. Others decided to think that his lack of scoring was a message to the front office that his days in Atlanta are coming to an end.

Regardless of any reasoning, Ilya Kovalchuk single-handedly dismantled and brought down the Detroit Red Wings as he led the Thrashers to a 7-2 victory.

Kovalchuk scored five of those goals.


"He really came out and led the team tonight" said head coach John Anderson. "He played all aspects of the game, both offensively and defensively and I can't ask for any more than that from the captain of the team."

Kovalchuk scored his first goal with 43 seconds on the clock in the first period for the 1-0 lead and followed after with his second at 15:58 with Bryan Little earning assists on each of the goals, alongside Pavel Kubina and Tobias Enstrom.

Atlanta jumped to a 3-0 lead early in the second period as Kovalchuk once again put the puck behind Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood to complete his hat-trick for the night as he scored on the powerplay at 2:31.

Pavel Kubina once again earned an assist, his second of the game, along with Zach Bogosian.

Mark Parrish added another goal for the Thrashers a minute later at 3:39 for a 4-0 lead.

But Detroit bounced back and scored as Pavel Datsyuk scored to finally put the Red Wings on the board for a 4-1 deficit to Detroit.

The Thrashers hit the back of the net once again in the second period, this time with Chris Thorburn scoring his second goal of the year at 16:24 for a 5-1 lead heading into the third period.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored two more times in the third period to bring his game total to five goals.

Pavel Kubina once again earned an assist at 9:43 as Kovalchuk scored his ninth goal of the season and fourth of the game for a 6-1 lead.

Detroit looked like they had enough as head coach Mike Babcock finally pulled Osgood from the net and replaced him with youngster Daniel Larsson.


He would also get a taste of Kovalchuk's scoring power as he allowed goal number seven of the game at 19:27, after going the better part of the period without a goal.

But Detroit once again scored with 1.5 seconds left in the game, with Ville Leino scoring for a 7-2 score.

Atlanta earned a very one sided win tonight, and look to earn another against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Kovalchuk earned the first star of the game, and has taken the lead in goal scoring for the Thrashers, passing Colby Armstrong with seven goals.

[kingalexander]

Kozlov leads Thrashers past 'Canes


Kari Lehtonen during Atlanta's 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

11/27/09
Associated Press

Raleigh, NC -- Slava Kozlov scored his fifth goal of the season and once again in the shootout as the Atlanta Thrashers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1.

Kozlov scored in the third period to open the open the game at 5:51 for the 1-0 lead on an unassisted play after taking the puck off the boards from a bad pass by Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason.

But Carolina came back later in the period as captain Rod Brind'Amour scored the tying goal at 11:56 with Sergei Samsonov and Erik Cole earning the assists.

Both Cam Ward and Kari Lehtonen held the game at a 1-1 draw through the rest of the third period and the overtime as the game headed into the shootout.

Lehtonen came out as the victor after stopping Carolina's top three shooters and Slava Kozlov scored the lone goal to lead the Thrashers past the Hurricanes for their third straight win.

Although being on the losing side, Cam Ward did earn the first star of the game after making 34 saves, with Lehtonen taking the second star with 22 saves.

Atlanta will hope to add to their winning streak as they face the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night, with Johan Hedberg set to start in net.

[kingalexander]

Philly dropped in Atlanta




11/28/09
Associated Press


(Atlanta, GA)Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 11th goal of the season as the Atlanta Thrashers held back the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2-1 win.

Kovalchuk's goal came with 1:53 on the clock during the second period for a 1-0 lead, while Johan Hedberg held the Flyers off with eight of his 14 saves during the first two periods.

Rich Peverley scored his second of the year late in the second period at 19:53 as he flicked the puck over the glove side shoulder of Flyers goaltender Ray Emery.

Philadelphia finally got on the scoreboard as Mike Richards scored in the third period for a 2-1 score.

Richard's fifth goal of the season at 7:49 with Braydon Coburn and Daniel Briere earned the assists.

Atlanta was able to hold off a comeback by the Flyers as they took the win and their fifth straight victory.

[kingalexander]

sorry, the next few games I won be able to make a write up for, i'll just do a game recap. I just need to get caught up on other stuff at the moment...

November 30th, 2009\

Florida Panthers at Atlanta Thrashers


1st Period:

No Scoring


2nd Period:
ATL - Enstrom(1)(Kovalchuk, Armstrong) 2:08
FLA - Booth(Frolik, Stillman) 6:46
ATL - Kozlov(6)(White, Bogosian) 10:59 (PP)


3rd Period:
ATL - Bogosian(3)(Kovalchuk, Armstrong) 9:43(PP)
ATL - Kovalchuk(12)(Little, Kubina) 19:44 (EN)

Final Score: Florida 1 - Atlanta 4

3 Stars:
1- Kovalchuk 1G2A
2- Bogosian 1G1A
3- Armstrong 2A

Goaltending
ATL - Kari Lehtonen-16 saves
FLA - Tomas Vokoun-24 saves

12/2/09

Colorado acquire LW Joffrey Lupul from Anaheim for C Michal Handzus

December 3rd, 2009

New York Islanders at Atlanta Thrashers

1st Period:


2nd Period:
ATL - Armstrong(8)(Unn) :50
NYI - Moulson(Svatos, Gervais) 11:00

3rd Period:
Peverley(3)(Unn) 8:48

Final score: NYI 1 - Atlanta 2

3 Stars:
1- Peverly 1G
2- Armstrong 1G
3- Lehtonen 15 saves

Goaltending:
ATL - Kari Lehtonen 15 saves
NYI - Rick DiPietro - 20 saves

Game Notes: Colby Armstrong injured in third period, did not return to game.

[bthomp05]

Great couple of games there, hope Armstrong is out for to long.

[kingalexander]

Armstrong out of action for Thrashers




(Atlanta, GA) - The Atlanta Thrashers have suffered a big loss as winger Colby Armstrong has been ruled out of action indefinitely after taking a hit during their 4-1 win over the New York Islanders.

"I don't think the hit was what hurt him the most, but it was a tough check" said head coach John Anderson. "It was more of the way he landed which I think really tweaked him somehow. Our trainers and team doctors are taking care of him, doing everything possible to get him back on the ice."

Armstrong fell on the ice after taking a hit from winger Tim Jackman during the third period of Atlanta's win over the Islanders, and seemed in no hurry to move as he stayed on the ice until the game was called to a halt so trainers could reach Armstrong.

It took a few minutes to take him off the ice, but managed to walk off on his own to feet to a standing ovation.

In 25 games played so far this season, Armstrong has tallied 16 points, with eight goals and eight assists.

2009 draft pick Jan-Axel Kronwall has been given the nod as he was called up to Atlanta after spending this season with the Chicago Wolves.

After being drafted in the second round of this year's draft, Kronwall has spent this season with the Wolves of the AHL.

In 23 games, Kronwall has earned eight goals and 16 assists for 23 points this year.

His first game will be against the Florida Panthers and he will wear the number 7 sweater.