Sharks 4, Thrashers 3

The Basics

• The Thrashers lost their third consecutive game tonight, losing 4-3 to the San Jose Sharks at Philips Arena... Atlanta’s record now stands at 4-3-1 for nine points this season.
• After falling behind 3-0, Atlanta got on the board thanks to Todd White’s second goal of the season … The goal, scored at the 3:58 mark of the middle frame, was unassisted.
• San Jose would take a 4-1 lead at the midway point of the second period, but Rich Peverley cut the deficit to two goals before the intermission with his fifth goal … Nik Antropov recorded an assist for the second straight game and defenseman Ron Hainsey earned his first assist of the season.
• Rookie forward Evander Kane brought the Thrashers to within one goal just 40 seconds into the third period, scoring his third goal … Maxim Afinogenov picked up his fourth assist of the year and now has three points (1g, 2a) in his last two games … Defenseman Pavel Kubina earned his fifth assist of the season on Kane’s goal.
• The Thrashers power play, which converted on one of four chances, scored a goal for the second straight game and the sixth time in eight contests this year … San Jose scored on two of its four man-advantage opportunities.
• Johan Hedberg made the start in goal for Atlanta and allowed four goals on 12 shots in 29:19 of action … Ondrej Pavelec stopped all 12 shots he faced in 30:20 of relief duty … Evgeni Nabokov stopped 24-of-27 shots in the win for the Sharks.
• The Thrashers will return to action on Thursday, Oct. 29 when the Washington Capitals make their second visit in a week to Philips Arena (7 p.m., SportSouth (HD), 680 The Fan).

What You Really Need to Know

For the second game in a row at home the Thrashers fell behind early, made a goalie change, and battled back to within a single goal after trailing by three. Like on Thursday night versus the Capitals, the rally against the Sharks came up a goal short despite a strong third period and tenacious flurry in the dying minutes. Once again a fluke goal made a difference for the opposition, with the game winner bouncing in off of  Marty Reasoner's leg.

Overall the Thrashers played a decent game, but it wasn't enough to overcome San Jose's four goals, or the loss of captain Ilya Kovalchuk who left the game at the midway point of the first period and didn't return after taking a shot off of his foot. He will be re-evaluated by team doctors on Monday morning.

Evander Kane was the story of the game following Kovalchuk's injury. It took a few shifts for John Anderson to get him into the rotation with Nik Antropov and Maxim Afinogenov, but once he did  he had one of the strongest games of his young career as the line imposed its will on the Sharks. Kane scored his third goal of the season 40 seconds into the third period to cut the deficit to 4-3 and was instrumental in Atlanta's rally, coming close to tying the game on several occasions.

Alternate captain Ron Hainsey (see quotes below) was happy with the general play of the team despite the result and pinned the loss on a handful of broken plays and a slow start.

Offensive Spotlight- Evander Kane

Evander Kane isn't Ilya Kovalchuk, but the rookie didn't look out of place skating with Nik Antropov and Maxim Afinogenov, and he did an outstanding job of using his body to protect the puck. Kane was consistently in the right place at the right time at both ends of the ice. Kane scored his third goal of the season (5th point) while logging a season-high 19:02, 18:29 of which was at even strength. In fact, Kane led all players in even strength ice-time.

Defensive Spotlight- Ron Hainsey and Pavel Kubina

With Ilya Kovalchuk knocked out of the lineup both Ron Hainsey and Pavel Kubina saw increased power-play time. Both players picked up assists in the loss with Hainsey's coming on the PP and Kubina's coming on Kane's third-period goal. The duo combined for 8:55 of short-handed time and logged a combined 4:55 on the PP.

What Went Right

- Defensive involvement. Hainsey and Kubina picked up points, Zach Bogosian led all Thrashers with five shots, and Bogosian, Hainsey and Enstrom all drove the net.

- Shots. Thrashers fans have been calling for more shots and while John Anderson doesn't mind low shot totals as long as the shots are good ones, he would still like to see the opposing goalies work more. The Thrashers outshot the Sharks 27-24, marking the first time Atlanta has outshot an opponent this season.

- Clogging lanes. The Thrashers blocked 11 San Jose shots (led by Christoph Schubert who blocked three) and forced 15 turnovers, many of which were broken up passes in the defensive zone. Despite some lapses the Thrashers did a good job limiting the Sharks' scoring chances around the net. Overall Anderson felt that the Thrashers out-chanced the defending President's Cup winners.

- Rally. For the second time in two games the Thrashers were able to spark a rally and even though they didn't pull it off it's encouraging to see the effort. There have been times in franchise history when the team didn't battle hard enough to spark a comeback, but those days seem to behind the Thrashers.

What Could Have Gone Better

- Injuries. It's never good to lose your best player early in a game and Thrashers fans will be anxious for news regarding their captain on Monday. Colby Armstrong also appeared to be injured at one point in the third period but shook it off and play the rest of the game.

- Breakdowns. San Jose's goals came off of broken plays and missed assignments rather than particularly good plays by the Sharks.

- Flat start. For the second game in a row the Thrashers gave up a quick goal and fell behind early. The Thrashers coaching staff have been stressing the importance of strong starts this week but so far they haven't been getting the results they're looking for.

Quotes of the Night

John Anderson on Kovalchuk's status:

"He's going to the doctors probably Monday morning to get scanned, x-rayed, to figure out what it was. He was walking- tenderly. Otherwise he would have come back and played."
 

Johan Hedberg on the team's starts to games:

"It's showing a pattern here that I don't think we should be too happy with. The starts of the period have been hurting us the last to games and we've got to adjust that... I think it's more us not being on our toes and not being ready for what we're supposed to do."

Ron Hainsey on the start to the game:

"We had just a blown assignment in front. [Thornton] can't be left alone in front of the net with that kind of time. It was just a blown assignment and that's a real bad start. Our team game overall was pretty good but a little thing like that where their best player is alone in front of the goalie, then a string of penalties and they get a lucky bounce, but that unfortunately that happens on the power play sometimes."

Hainsey on the overall play of the team:

"We've got a good team here. we have a better team than our start. I'd take our game tonight minus a few little things like the first shift and a couple little breakdowns. I like the look of our team from last year to this year. Just a few things to tighten up. Our overall game is a lot better."

Hainsey on Evander Kane's play:

"He's playing good on whatever line he's been on. He's playing great with Pevs and Army. That's been as good a line for us as anybody, short of Kovy and his nine goals... He looks strong in front of the net. He's in front. He's battling. He looks like the real deal... no pun intended."