Montreal goaltender Carey Price hoped the next time he saw the ice would be Wednesday night in New Jersey, just four days before starting on his home ice for the Eastern Conference in the 2009 NHL All-Star Game. However, the Atlanta Thrashers had other ideas as they forced Price into the game to replace an ineffective Jaroslav Halak before winning 4-2.
Probably most disappointing for Halak and the Canadiens were the names in the goal scoring column. Instead of the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk and Bryan Little doing the damage, guys like Chris Thorburn, Rich Peverley and Zach Bogosian found the back of the net.
“We can’t always depend on our top lines to get the scoring. Our third and fourth lines, we’ve got to chip in every once a while, more often than not,” said Thorburn. “I think we did that tonight and we just gotta keep it going until the end of the year.”
Rookie defenseman Zach Bogosian iced the game with a goal in the third period, making him the most surprising goal scorer in a game filled with surprising scorers. Bogosian added two points on Tuesday to give him four in his last two games, after sitting out most of the first half of the season with a fractured leg.
“That’s kind of my style as an offensive defensemen. Jumping up in the rush and trying to do anything I can to help out in the offensive zone,” said Bogosian.
“It’s just a matter of doing it at the NHL level and I think Schneider has helped him a lot, barking in his ear and telling him where to go,” said head coach John Anderson of his rookie defenseman. “We didn’t draft him because he shot McMuffins out there.”
But even with a big scoring run, Bogosian isn’t one to let himself get overly confident. “I gotta make sure I take care of defense first. Just keep things simple, and not get a big head or anything.”
While Bogosian’s goal came with Price in the pipes, Atlanta did most of its damage in the first period against Halak. He allowed two shots to sneak in between his legs, giving Atlanta a 2-0 lead after one period. The first came off the stick of Erik Christensen who blasted a slap shot from the top of the circle right though the five hole of Halak.
Just 1:24 later Thorburn got another shot under the legs of Halak, knocking in a Jim Slater pass that came from behind the net.
It would continue downhill for Halak, who would allow a third Thrasher goal in the second period. The newest Thrasher Rich Perverley sent Halak to the bench when he scored on a shot that just snuck under the outstretched leg of Halak, giving Atlanta a 3-0 lead.
“It’s good, it means we’re doing the little things to get big success,” said Thorburn about getting the goalie out so early. “We were just shooting pucks, driving the net, and it’s something we’ve got to do game in and game out.”
As bad as Halak had it, Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen found himself in even more precarious situations, having to lay all over the ice to keep the high-scoring Candiens behind.
Lehtonen kept everything in his glove and the Candiens out of the net in the first period. The second was different, however, as Montreal scored twice, seemingly sparked by Peveryley’s goal and a penalty by Boris Valabik. But the third is where Lehtonen showed his talent and potential, stopping all 18 Montreal shots.
“I think we were working Kari to death there in the third period. Not having leads too often, our tendency is to chip it out instead of making some plays,” said Anderson.
Atlanta now heads to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers before taking a four-day break for the All-Star game.
“I still like to hit the All-Star break running and then we’ll take our chances with everybody else because they are in the same boat,” said Anderson. “I would love to hit the break running and see what happens afterwards.”
GAME NOTES
•The four goal scorers from Tuesday’s game came into Tuesday’s game with a combined 11 goals.
•Atlanta was outshot 18-6 in the third period, but led in goals scored with one to Montreal’s zero.
•Starting Canadien G Jaroslav Halak had allowed eight goals in his last four-plus periods in net, after allowing three Atlanta goals on just 14 shots on Tuesday.
•Atlanta has lost in regulation the last nine times against the Flyers. The last point earned against Philadelphia was a shootout loss on Oct. 26, 2006.
Boral can be reached at jboral@scoreatl.com.
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