I think it’s safe to say that Slava Kozlov is back. Kozlov scored two critical goals in Atlanta’s 4-3 win against the New York Islanders on Thursday night.
Kozlov’s first came off a perfect feed from Tobias Enstrom, after Enstrom was able to force an Islanders turnover in the neutral zone. After receiving the pass from Enstrom, Kozlov stood with no defenders between him and the net, an opportunity not wasted by the veteran.
But it was second which was even more important, pulling Atlanta within one and stealing some momentum from the Islander bench. If it was up to Kozlov though, he would just as much share the glory with his line. “We play good as a unit. Right now we’re so far behind from the playoffs, I’m not worried about statistics,” Kozlov said.
Kozlov’s success on Thursday doesn’t come as a surprise seeing how well he has performed against New York throughout his career. In 35 previous games against the Islanders Kozlov has 10 goals and 19 assists. But this one may have been the most important showing against New York because it showed how dangerous Kozlov can be when fully healthy. “I feel pretty good,” Kozlov said “but the most important thing is that I’m having fun and I’m still hungry for hockey.”
While the injury was common fodder over the offseason, it apparently wasn’t known by head coach John Anderson. “I didn’t know he was injured a lot of the year last year,” Anderson said. Either way he’s happy to have him on his bench now. “He’s really smart out there and knows where to go. He doesn’t have a real powerful shot, but I think he knows where to put it,” Anderson said about Kozlov’s talents.
Still the second period almost did in the Thrashers’ chances for victory, just as it had done in previous games this season. Atlanta gave up goals to New York’s Frans Nielson and Trent Hunter, making the score 3-1 after two.
So what changed between the second and third period? Apparantly it was Anderson’s tone in the locker room. “He was very upset with how we working,” Kozlov said about the first year coach. “He’s got lots of patience, so once in a while he gets pretty upset at us.”
Even Anderson wasn’t shy about sharing his thoughts on that talk after the second period. “You know I’m a pretty patient man, but when I see that in the second period that’s not what I want this team to be about,” Anderson said after the game. Although he wouldn’t share, whatever he said during the break must have worked as it led to goals from Kozlov, Jason Williams, and Tobias Enstrom’s first of the season, which also was the game inner.
The second story for Atlanta continues to be the health of the team’s defense. Ondrej Pavelec started his second game in a row after replacing Johan Hedberg in net against the New Jersey Devils. Pavelec has remained on the roster while Kari Lehtonen recovers from a sickness he incurred last week. Pavelec stopped 24 shots on the night, earning his second victory in as many starts. No word on who will start in goal for Friday’s game in Buffalo.
Also scratched from the game was Mathieu Schneider, who was out with an undisclosed injury. Replacing Schneider just before the puck dropped was Boris Valabik, who was called up from Chicago just prior to the game.
Boral can be reached at jboral@scoreatl.com.
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