I had my first opportunity to take in a Thrashers game this year, this one coming at Madison Square Garden. It was my first time at MSG, so it was surely a treat to see the Thrashers come out with a crucial two points against a team they could be battling with for a playoff spot.
Some of the notes from the game:
-Dustin Byfuglien on defense is a good idea. I wasn't on board with this at first, but he's looked spectacular aside from the one (and only Thrasher's) penalty he took last night when he was caught out of position. He had another goal, giving him three on the year, and looks great with Toby Enstrom, both of whom logged over 22:00 of ice time.
-Tobias Enstrom is a defensive genius. He's smooth skating and for his size plays extremely impressive defense. Already an impressive playmaker and starting to shoot more, coupled with playing on a line with Byfuglien, Enstrom could very well top 60 points this season.
-Johnny Oduya had a very solid game in New York, perhaps his finest of the season. He was in position all night and played the body effectively despite being a -1 for the night.
-Alexander Burmistrov deserves a roster spot. Craig Ramsay is gaining more and more trust in him as is evidenced by the 17:18 he played Wednesday night. He also drew another penalty with a nifty move to beat two Rangers and picked up his first career NHL point when he assisted on Evander Kane's sixth goal of the campaign.
-Anthony Stewart had yet another solid game, notching two more assists and being a +3. Stewart has been a surprise to say the least, notching seven points in nine games. It was also nice to see Bryan Little and Niclas Bergfors get out of their respective droughts, each of whom scored their first goals of the season. Little's was vintage little; impressive speed in inside-outing a forward at center, then burning Marc Staal wide and slipping a backhander through Marty Biron's legs. I'd like to see more of this confidence from Little and see him utilize his speed; he has incredible wheels that I'd like to see spinning a little more often.
-Chris Mason made some extremely key saves in backstopping his fourth win of the year. While his numbers (4 goals on 28 shots) may seem underwhelming, he made some key stops down the stretch as the Rangers started to pick up momentum and cut a 5-2 lead to 5-4. Mason will finally get a breath when Ondrej Pavelec returns Saturday night in St. Louis.
That's about all from Madison Square Garden. It was a solid win for the Thrashers; there were a ton of positives and it was good to see key guys stepping up in big situations.
Coming up in the near future we'll discuss Atlanta's penchant for bringing in black players which has become more of a topic in the mainstream media as of late.
TC
