Live-Blog: Atl@Det

--------First Period---------

-The entire Wings' roster stickhandles like Maxy Fins and are always in perfect position. Very frustrating.

-Holy Dinosaur Niel! Just when I thought Fins was going to stickhandle past the net without shooting again, he makes a great play for a tap in by Antropov!

-Zach Bogosian draws comparisons to Bobby Orr. Bobby Orr played in the 70's. Bogosian's mustache makes him look like a child molester who drives a van from the 70's. How's that for Six Degrees of Blueland?

-Unless I am mis-remembering the graphic SportSouth showed last game, the Thrshers are undefeated this season when scoring first. Looking good so far. Too bad we couldn't go out and sign David Harlock before tonight's game to go out and destroy a Red Wing for me.

-I hear Nick Lidstrom was asking Zach Bogosian for pointers on how to play defense before the game. True story.

-Good quote from Coach Anderson about only playing 20 minutes in an NHL game isn't enough. Last game Kovy only played 5 minutes and it wasn't all at once.

-Bogo's got to move Holmstrom out of the crease. It looks like Ondrej is giving him the Heimlich.

-WHAT A SHOT BY ANTRO! I wish there had been a radar gun trained on that one! It might have broken 6 or 7mph!

-The key to being a broadcaster is being able to politely express the gut reaction we all have of "What the hell are you doing making that pass you idiot!?!? Andy Sutton could've picked that off!"

-Since I've already been heaping praise on Bogo, I'll take this opportunity to point out he's got a 2 goal lead for the NHL lead among 19 year old defensemen. Oh yeah, and the rest of the defensemen in the league, too.

-Detroit had five shots on that powerplay but it sure didn't feel like it. Good job by the PK to keep those shots coming from bad angles.

-Good first period. The shots will favor Detroit, but only because of the powerplays.

-----Second Period------

-I was worried hockey might not be as exciting without alcohol. I needn't have worried.

-Ok, so Atlanta was outshot 18-9. That's more than just the powerplays causing that discrepancy.

-I bet John Anderson and Paul Johnson get together to appreciate each other's awesomeness. And laugh at Mark Richt's inability to grow facial hair.

-Not sure I can stay up for it, but Chicago and San Jose tonight features Hossa vs. Heatley in the "You're really good but I'm glad you don't play for us anymore Bowl."

-Random thought- (unlike the others here) if we had a Tim Horton's franchise in Atlanta, would that make us a 'traditional hockey market?'

-Power Play! Let somebody other than Kovy shoot it every once in a while.

-Wow, -3 for the Czar last game. I knew he looked bad.

-Friend of the Chronicle just sent me a text message including the word "kewl." If you spell a word differently than normal, and it's not shorter, then it's not an abbreviation, it's just being annoying.

-Good back and forth action here. 3 shots on the power play for Atlanta, but the only quality one was the point shot from Toby.

-I literally have to drag my jaw up off my chest after that save by Pav. Yeah, he shouldn't have turned the puck over like that but holy cow, what a recovery. That'll be shown a few times on NHL On the Fly tonight.

-Another active penalty kill tonight. Atlanta's power play doesn't do well when penalty killers challenge the puck carrier.

-3 passes before we get out of our own zone on the power play. No one wants the puck. Not a good sign.

-SLAVA KOZLOV THOUGHT IT WAS A SHOOTOUT!!! 2-0 good guys!

-Wow. Datsuk just tried to flip one over the back of the net to his teammates in the crease. If it had worked, he would have beat Pav out for play of the game.

-Salmela should have been in the lineup a lot more this year. Great chance but Howard robbed him. Had Army followed up rather than celebrating too early he might have been able to knock in a trickle. Oh well. Power Play #3.

-I concur with Darren Elliot. Other teams have figured out the Thrashers' power play. Time for some kind of change.

-Nice of JA to put Michigan State alum Jimmy Slater in the lineup for the game in Detroit.

-BS penalty against the Pevs Dispenser. He was digging for the puck and Helm fell over his stick.

-Elliot sounds genuinely pissed off about the bad call.

-Getting an HD projector is the best thing I ever did for my away-game watching experience. Not really the best thing I ever did for my relationship with my fiance, however.

-Good penalty kill. Heading to the locker rooms with Atlanta up 2-0. No speculation on the shot count this time.

---------Third Period----------

-Ok, after seeing the replay, there's no way Army could have made it to that rebound after Peanut's chance.

-Peanut has to be more careful. He deserved more playing time, but the good things Coach remembers from his game have to outnumber the bad things. That turnover just wiped out the scoring chance from last period.

-Todd Bertuzzi. Waste of space.

-Good awareness by Ondrej the Giant to knock away the bad carom there. Holmstrom was right there to knock it home if he hadn't swept it away.

-Detroit with a big advantage in the faceoff circle. It'll be interesting later to see individual faceoff stats. Who isn't pulling their weight? Tip- Pevs and the Party are probably winning most of theirs.

-The Czar picked off a pass in the slot and was ROBBED by Howard! Over all Kovy is playing better tonight, but still isn't quite himself.

-Kovy with some good hustle to get back on the backcheck, but then once he got some help he started to coast around the defensive zone.

-Ovechkin was ejected from tonight's Caps vs. Sabres game for a hit from behind on Pat Kaleta. Looks like a dirty hit to me. His back was turned, Ovy had time to pull up, but he hit him up high.

-Thrashers playing New Jersey style defensive game now. In years past this would have started at the beginning of the third period with a 1 goal lead and wouldn't reverse even after we'd given up three goals.

-A little better positioning by Atlanta's forwards would create a ton of goals tonight. Rebounds abound.

-The last two minutes of this game is going to last an hour if the Thrashers keep icing the puck every time they touch it.

-Powerplay for the Thrashers with 1:40 left to go, and the Red Wing fans stream out of the Joe and back into the Unemployment Line.

-Ok, that was in poor taste. Just because they live in a hellhole and cheer for an evil team doesn't mean we should laugh at their economic misfortune. But hey! Obama spent 700 billion dollars to revive the economy. It's bound to work any second now, right?

-Game over. 25 points after 21 games. Not too shabby. Congrats to Ondrej the Giant on his second career shutout. No one can say "yeah, but your only shutout was the Blue Jackets" anymore!