Atlanta Red Hot Despite Expectations
Atlanta, GA - TICKER - Atlanta Red Hot Despite Expectations.
After 5 games of pre-season action, the Atlanta Thrashers are 3-2. Most would have thought that the team's third win would come well into the regular season. Let's review their off-season.
They traded away their franchise player in Dany Heatley to the Carolina Hurricanes for Brad Boyes, Carlo Colaicovo, and a high draft pick. These pieces were then subsequently sold off for young Goalie tandem Ray Emery and Marc-Andre Fleury, as well as defenseman Tim Gleason and Brendan Bell. They drafted Evgeny Malkin as well as future defensive stalwart Andy Rogers. Their help is at least a year away though.
Which is why the Thrashers offensive production is so surprising. Pontus Petterstrom, recently acquired Ryan Bayda, Justin Mapletoft, and Mikhail Yakubov are all averaging over a point a game. Enforcer Luke Sellars has even potted a pair.
But Atlanta is still getting outshot by a margin of 147-120. This could be in large part because of their 37.2 PIMs/game (ranked second behind just the Philadelphia Flyers). The team has responded, in large part due to Fleury's impressive play with a man down. His .914 save percentage is leading the Thrashers penalty kill to rank 13th in the league. He has 11 star points in those 5 games, and is currently third in the league in that category.
When the team gets their own advantage, they crash the net with a near reckless abandon, which has contributed to their 22.7% conversion rate on the power play (ranked second behind just the Florida Panthers). Of Petterstrom's three goals, two have come from the power play, and Bayda and Mapletoft each have one as well.
This defensively re-vamped club has taken the league by storm, and is taking everyone, including this reporter, by surprise.
After 5 games of pre-season action, the Atlanta Thrashers are 3-2. Most would have thought that the team's third win would come well into the regular season. Let's review their off-season.
They traded away their franchise player in Dany Heatley to the Carolina Hurricanes for Brad Boyes, Carlo Colaicovo, and a high draft pick. These pieces were then subsequently sold off for young Goalie tandem Ray Emery and Marc-Andre Fleury, as well as defenseman Tim Gleason and Brendan Bell. They drafted Evgeny Malkin as well as future defensive stalwart Andy Rogers. Their help is at least a year away though.
Which is why the Thrashers offensive production is so surprising. Pontus Petterstrom, recently acquired Ryan Bayda, Justin Mapletoft, and Mikhail Yakubov are all averaging over a point a game. Enforcer Luke Sellars has even potted a pair.
But Atlanta is still getting outshot by a margin of 147-120. This could be in large part because of their 37.2 PIMs/game (ranked second behind just the Philadelphia Flyers). The team has responded, in large part due to Fleury's impressive play with a man down. His .914 save percentage is leading the Thrashers penalty kill to rank 13th in the league. He has 11 star points in those 5 games, and is currently third in the league in that category.
When the team gets their own advantage, they crash the net with a near reckless abandon, which has contributed to their 22.7% conversion rate on the power play (ranked second behind just the Florida Panthers). Of Petterstrom's three goals, two have come from the power play, and Bayda and Mapletoft each have one as well.
This defensively re-vamped club has taken the league by storm, and is taking everyone, including this reporter, by surprise.
posted by -Steve at 7:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home