L.A.'s Fine, Sunshine Most of the Time...But You Know I Keep Thinking About...

A live hockey blogging bonanza!!! Bam! Here we go folks, time to do battle with the up and coming Kings. Let's hope we get the Kings from the last two meetings in which they yielded a total of 14 goals (7 in each) to your Thrashers. A win tonite would be huge and give us some serious momentum and confidence going into the game with Anaheim on Friday. But that's Friday. Tonite the Thrashers try to get back onto a winning track after unsuccessfully shaking a first-game hangover that led to a 4 - 0 2nd period hole from which they couldn't claw out. Tonite, as mentioned previously, is Armenian Heritage Night as well as Opening Night for the Los Angeles Reyes. Let's hope the Thrashers learn from Friday vs. Tampa and weather the early storm should the waters get choppy in the first ten minutes.

Nothing like a little vintage Neil Diamond to get you pumped up during pre-game, right!? Ha! I never said I had conventional tastes did I? Then again you already knew that seeing as how I'm a Thrashers fan and all. Didja hear that Slash is performing the National Anthem tonite before the game?? How cool is that? Well, at least I think it will be, but can he sing that well? Or will he do the instrumental thing instead? Perhaps we'll find out. Anyway, the nite started out well as the Detroit Red Wings went down in OT to the Colorado Avalanche...I'll settle for the lost point if not the outright loss. I have no love-loss for the Detroit Dead Things.

FIRST PERIOD OF ACTION:

-- Coverage on NHL.com's GameCenter Live is starting up and a chill went down my spine! Man I love the first few weeks of the hockey season! Just hate we're on the road again to start the season...sked makers hate us with a passion I think.

-- Announcers said that the Kings are the youngest team in the league. Maybe so, but I think it would be the T-birds if not for the fact that we lured Freddy Modin away from them in the off-season. He and Mason raise our avg age up to around 26 y/o I bet.

-- Kings players are being announced (Wayne "don't call me Brady" Simmons got a rousing round of applause and cheers) as they bust through a faux wooden castle door in their tunnel...kinda funny, but dizzope for sure!! Okay, honestly, my loins are tingling with anticipation...oh nevermind, I need to pee.

-- Time for Slash (instrumental) to shred the audience's ear drums with some heavy metal Anthem rock!! Go you bad ass mutha trucka! Slash still rockin' a serious fro, he doesn't look any different than 20 some odd years ago! Guess all that hard livin' is good for ya! ;-) Wooo!

--Time. To. Drop. The. Puck! Get hype y'all! Refs are Walkom and St. Pierre. Hope they don't suck as bad as Friday nite vs. the Craps. Antro loses the face-off to Handzus. Dawes and Modin out there with Hainsey and Sopel?

-- Bogosian and Oduya with a mix-up on the D to D pass, can't get the forecheck started yet and a problem along the wall for Johnny O leads to a bad angle chance for the Kings, save Mason.

-- Kings seem to be pressing hard with an aggressive 2 - 1 - 2 forecheck...Thrashers having trouble getting out of their own zone...Kane's line did nothing.

-- Burmistrov with first attempted shot for his team, puck deflected out of play. A little scrum in the corner ensues involving Chris Thorburn. Crowd getting amped...nice centering chance by Thor leads to a hooking call against the Kings! Time for the Power Play! It was Buff cheating up into the slot for the chance...Smyth with the hook and gets the hook.

-- Little, Ladd and Bergie with Tobes and Bogey...having a hard time getting set up again. Sorry, make that Kane with Little and Bergie. No Ladd. Bergie along the right wall, Bogey with an errant drive off a skate...Enstrom with a weak slapper that is gobbled up by Quick's glove.

-- Nothing doing off the F/O from the left circle and the PP is waning...10 seconds. One last shot from the blueline is side, still possessed by Pevs, but play broken up and Kings changing lines.

-- Burmy's line out again...Thorbs with a shot from the right wall steered away by Quick, scramble along the left wall is won by the boys in white and their hard work leads to yet another penalty by the Kings in front of the net...nice early forechecking by the Thrashers' "best" line?

-- perhaps Burmy, Thorbs and Eager should be on the PP as they can't seem to get the play started in the O-zone, Kings clear and press leading to a dumb hooking penalty by Bergfors to negate the man-advantage...wooo! Lovin' this power play! Buff with another charge up the right side in 4 on 4 action, shot saved betwixt the pads.

-- Thrashers are awful in the F/O circle so far and their puck possession is suffering because of it; Kings D is too good to force a lot of turnovers with the forecheck. Doughty's wrister from the high slot is gloved by Mason. Another won F/O for the Kings...Doughty shot blocked by the kid, Burmistrov as he shows good quickness again. Kings still moving the puck but high and wide shot by Williams leads to a "clear" and Bergie is free!

-- after a weak Thrashers shot at the offensive end, Kings quickly transition to the Thrashers zone and their hard work leads to a choice chance for Wayne Simmonds who luckily hits the post and the rebound is handled by Brayden Schenn, but Mason is there to thwart the challenge. Thrashers need to take a deep breath and re-group as they look very sloppy and a bit sluggish.

-- boys bunching up big time in the offensive zone and it leads to an easy transition for the Kings, but not much there for Kings. Little with an offensive charge and a look for Ladd in the slot but it goes under his stick...a little behind him. What's this? Yet another PP for the Thrash! Just saw the replay for the Simmonds post-shot and the rebound hopped over Brayden Schenn's stick, nearly a goal...dodged a huge bullet there. Penalty to Jack Johnson, but for what I'm not sure.

-- Power play is power-less once again as they can't penetrate the Kings' zone...it's almost like the Kings are on the PP instead. Christ Almighty let's go!! Get Bergie off this unit and put Kane with Antro and Little! Crikey! Horrible "PP" has not produced an actual shot on goal yet, for the second of three times.

-- once again, the "Thor-Burm" line is our most effective as they are the only ones who seem to be in any kind of sync whatsoever! Ramsay is gonna have his work cut out for him between periods that is for sure! 5:55 left and still no score.

-- Mason's glove hand is getting a workout tonite! He melts it down and we go to break. Prior to the break, Kane busted into the zone with speed and got off a sneaky wrister through the D only to be stoned by an aggressive Quick at the top of the paint. Only real good chance so far. Is it time for a Kane - Burmy - Thorbs line??

-- Burmy line back out and forechecking its heart out in the corner, but to no avail this time as the Kings scoop up the puck off the wall and bust out. Enstrom with a near T/O leading to a bad angle shot, but disaster averted...so far. Geez Buffy and Tobes look shaky. Perhaps the team would have benefitted from a morning skate afterall??

-- Another lost F/O and the Kings control the zone in our puck, but it's taken away and off to the races we go with Dawes and Bergie! Dawes gets off a weak shot around the left D-man but Quick is there...Bergie gets the 10th shot for the Thrashers, but it seems more like 5.

-- Dawes working hard as he was out there for the end of the shift with Bergie...Bogey with a hell of a play to thwart Mr. Anze Fancy Pants Kopitar who got too fancy for his own good. Kane starting to get his legs, but Antro is flagging...why is he still out there? Kings dictating and we can't make full, clean changes I guess.

-- Final 38 seconds of play didn't really bear any action of note and to the intermission we go! Thrashers with the advantage in SOG: 12 to 9. I reckon things would've been different had it not been for early penalty trouble for the Kings. Should we get more PP in the 2nd, hopefully they will make the neccessary adjustment and flip the puck deep over the line of 4 Kings players at the blueline...it's like they were just begging us to carry the puck into the zone and we seemed to accommodate them nearly every time. Oh, and we need to do some wrist-curls in the locker room so we can actually win a damn face-off! Snack time!!