Thrashers Treat Bruins Like B's, Win 5th Straight

Led by the heroics of forward-in-defenseman's clothing, Dustin Byfuglien, the Atlanta Thrashers snapped an 0 - 8 - 2 streak of futility against the visiting Boston Bruins with a resounding 4 to 1 win. Byfuglien, who tallied a goal and two assists on the evening, sparked his mates to another convincing win on home ice. This time, the boys in blue decided to not wait until the 2nd period to seize control of the game scoring 3 successive goals in just over 6 minutes during the middle stages of the opening stanza. Goals by Evander Kane, the charismatic Byfuglien and Jimmy "I can't believe he scored on a breakaway" Slater helped flip the script on a Boston Bruins team that is quite accustomed to pushing the Thrashers around like school-yard bullies. But this time the Thrashers would not give up their lunch money as Byfuglien used Philips Arena ice to dole out his unique brand (photo courtesy of AP, yahoo.com) of punishment under the watchful eye of towering Norris Trophy winner Zdeno Chara.

Also critical to the Thrashers' success against the Beantown Bullies was the steady and sometimes spectacular play of goalie Ondrej Pavelec, who made several critical saves in the 2nd period to make sure the Thrashers maintained a comfortable margin. Not long after Blake Wheeler beat Pavelec with a hard wrister from the right face-off dot to cut the lead to two, the Czech known to Blueland faithful as "Opie" thwarted Brad Marchand's point-blank snap-shot with his deft glove-hand. On the ensuing face-off, Pavelec would make another key save with his lightning quick blocker, steering aside a hot shot hammered by Johnny Boychuk from the right point. Boston elevated their level of play after resident tough guy Shawn Thornton dominated a willing and scrappy Eric Boulton in what was the second "tete a tete" of the period. The B's were buzzing after the Thornton "TKO" and Wheeler goal, but they would not find the back of the net again thanks to the stellar play of Pavelec between the pipes.

With the victory, the Thrashers won their 5th straight on home ice and third in a row over a playoff team from last season. But for the fifth consecutive time, the stingy Czech netminder would not allow more than a single goal to raise his season-to-date save percentage to .949, just shy of the mark set by league leading Tim Thomas of the Bruins who sports a sparkling .951% on the year. Thomas has led the Bruins to 11 wins in 15 starts thanks to his microscopic 1.56 goals against average, but on this nite, "back-up" Tuukka Rask would get his chance to extend his dominance over Atlanta (3 wins and a sub-one GAA in three starts). However, the Thrashers would not take kindly to the thought of getting victimized by a Finnish goalie's exploits once again. Instead, they dominated the neutral zone in the 1st period forcing two key plays that would lead to goals at the other end.

After Kane would help the Thrashers stake their claim to an early lead, Byfuglien, who lost an edge deep in the Bruins' zone on the previous sequence, took control of a pass from Alex Burmistrov through the neutral zone that Big Buff would corral just in time at the blueline to avoid an offsides call. From there, Byfuglien would use his speed and laser-like wrist shot to score through a screen past a helpless Rask. Later in the period, Byfuglien would break up a Marchand rush at the red line to feather a soft pass to a streaking Jimmy Slater at the blueline. Slater, mustachioed in a way that would make a barber shop quartet proud, would skate in on Rask with a D-man dogging him, but his speed and strength would help him shield the puck before chopping it over Rask's stick-arm for the all-important 3-goal lead. The Thrashers would later add an insurance goal by Nicklas Bergfors, who "fooped in" -- Swedish for accidental contact as in "Berg-foops"-- a heeled slap-shot by Byfuglien on the power play late in the 2nd period. Byfuglien would later have a chance at a 5 point night, but his overly fancy stick-handling on a break-in would foil his chance on Rask.

TASTY MORSELS & NUGGETS: Despite getting out-shot for the first time in 6 games, the Thrashers would win the SOG race in the 1st period out-shooting Boston 12 to 10, or 21 to 17 if you include misses and blocked shots....Kane's goal was his 9th of the year, but his brief team lead was neutralized by Big Buff's 9th goal right after Kane got his....In the last 9 games, the Thrashers have completely reversed a goal differential deficit of -9 (not including S/O goals) to now boast a +6 goals scored advantage by scoring 15 more goals than their opponents....Lastly, during the recent 5-game winning streak, the Thrashers have scored a PPG in the last four raising their record to 6 - 0 - 3 when scoring more PPG in a game than their opponent.