As I sit here and wait for the replay of Tabitha's Salon Takeover to start on Bravo, I have a few moments to reflect on the satisfying 6 to 1 thrashing of the Ottawa Senators tonite at the Bulb. First of all, it was nice to enter a third period knowing we were going to win. And secondly, it was really nice to get home so early. Not to say that I don't want a full building, but it is rather nice to beat the hell out of a team, get out of Dodge (downtown) without hassle and manage to get home by 10:30.
Anyway, let's briefly recap the 3 Keys to the Game that I presented below before the game.
1) Improved Goaltending - check. Ondrej Pavelec was re-born as a more than capable net-minder with a very strong outing in which he stopped all but 1 of 31 shots fired into his paraphenelia. More importantly, he battled hard all night, did not over commit and made two show-stopping breakaway saves at crucial junctures...albeit both on Jarkko "Call me Jerkko" Ruutu. 'Atta boy Pavs! Way to "Czech yo' self before you wreck yo' self (courtesy K-belle of blogtastico!).
2) Attention to Detail (and Greater Intensity) - big freakin' check! The unusual line combos worked very well tonite as each line seemed to play with an elevated level of determination, focus and intensity. There was lots of hitting, crashing of the net and hustle all night. Eric Boulton whooped Chris Neil's ass in fine style and even Slava Kozlov nearly dropped the gloves after getting harrassed something fierce by Jerkko Ruutu, if I recall correctly. Jimmy "Scandalous" Slater tried to be quite scandalous in defending his and his team's honor, but the over-officious jerk of a ref did not allow Jimmy to remove his helmet and visor to engage in fisticuffs. All around it was a better effort for 60 full minutes and the boys really seemed to respond to the line shake-up.
3) Power Play Efficiency - not so much. While the first goal was actually a PP tally, no one really realized it because it was scored on an odd-man rush of sorts by the lethal goal-scorer, ERIC BOULTON! The weirdest line combo of the night (Boults - White - Kozlov) actually yielded TWO goals and ended up a +1 on the evening, a nice reward for their hard-nosed effort against Ottawa's scrappy grinding line. On the other hand, the usual PP unit combinations (although Kovy did ring one off the post) produced the usual Power PASS results: NOTHING! This needs to change and soon. By the way John Anderson, I don't think the unit of Slater, Boulton, Thorburn, Bogo and Kubes is going to cut it! Although getting Bogosian out there gives me a happy!
One last note: the Thrashers held their opponent to 31 shots once again and despite a second period in which they were outshot by 11, they came back strong in the 3rd and continued to put pressure on the Sens with 8 shots to Ottawa's 9 including Bryan Little's laser-like slapper from the left circle for a goal 14 seconds into the final stanza. A very nice bonus indeed. In fact, it makes me want to dance like this! I think my lovely K-belle (Bryan's biggest fan) would agree.
1) Improved Goaltending - check. Ondrej Pavelec was re-born as a more than capable net-minder with a very strong outing in which he stopped all but 1 of 31 shots fired into his paraphenelia. More importantly, he battled hard all night, did not over commit and made two show-stopping breakaway saves at crucial junctures...albeit both on Jarkko "Call me Jerkko" Ruutu. 'Atta boy Pavs! Way to "Czech yo' self before you wreck yo' self (courtesy K-belle of blogtastico!).
2) Attention to Detail (and Greater Intensity) - big freakin' check! The unusual line combos worked very well tonite as each line seemed to play with an elevated level of determination, focus and intensity. There was lots of hitting, crashing of the net and hustle all night. Eric Boulton whooped Chris Neil's ass in fine style and even Slava Kozlov nearly dropped the gloves after getting harrassed something fierce by Jerkko Ruutu, if I recall correctly. Jimmy "Scandalous" Slater tried to be quite scandalous in defending his and his team's honor, but the over-officious jerk of a ref did not allow Jimmy to remove his helmet and visor to engage in fisticuffs. All around it was a better effort for 60 full minutes and the boys really seemed to respond to the line shake-up.
3) Power Play Efficiency - not so much. While the first goal was actually a PP tally, no one really realized it because it was scored on an odd-man rush of sorts by the lethal goal-scorer, ERIC BOULTON! The weirdest line combo of the night (Boults - White - Kozlov) actually yielded TWO goals and ended up a +1 on the evening, a nice reward for their hard-nosed effort against Ottawa's scrappy grinding line. On the other hand, the usual PP unit combinations (although Kovy did ring one off the post) produced the usual Power PASS results: NOTHING! This needs to change and soon. By the way John Anderson, I don't think the unit of Slater, Boulton, Thorburn, Bogo and Kubes is going to cut it! Although getting Bogosian out there gives me a happy!
One last note: the Thrashers held their opponent to 31 shots once again and despite a second period in which they were outshot by 11, they came back strong in the 3rd and continued to put pressure on the Sens with 8 shots to Ottawa's 9 including Bryan Little's laser-like slapper from the left circle for a goal 14 seconds into the final stanza. A very nice bonus indeed. In fact, it makes me want to dance like this! I think my lovely K-belle (Bryan's biggest fan) would agree.
Happy dancing Blueland!
2 comments:
So happy the Birds won one to keep the fans going. The first paragraph was amazingly written, the rest kinda left me in the dust as I don't know all folks nor sport that well. Keep blogging! I will continue to read and digest what I can.
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