What a Weekend

I won't attempt to improve on any of the commentary about the two splendid but very different games the Thrashers won this weekend. Analysis of the games is readily available all over the hockey web and blogosphere, and this blog is more vaudeville than Senate, so...

Friday night's game against the Buffalo Sabres was the most tense and stressful I've ever seen; I was literally cowering in my Blueland seat and hiding my eyes at points (most often during the shootout). The Enstrom goal near the end of regulation time was exhilarating, as was Eric Perrin's game-winning shot. I nearly wept with joy. The game against the Capitals was obviously much lower scoring and less dramatic, though just as tense in its way; I spent most of that one silently commending our defense through the TV screen, with a brief eruption upon that Todd White, Recchi-assisted goal.

The secret of our success in these last two (Kovalchuk-less) games? I think it goes without saying that Jimmy Slater has abolished all of the Blueland Chronicle's doubts and successfully transformed himself into a goal-scoring machine. Vets like Bobby Holik and Mark Recchi (my non-Kari Player of the Game for last night) have played wonderfully, and our defense is all-around tight and solid. I could go on and talk about how much of a prince Enstrom is or how Exelby has been consistently good of late, but the reason we've done well in these last three is something obvious but under-mentioned: teamwork. We're, like, actually playing as a cohesive unit, all for one and one for all and all that. If we keep playing like this...

Oh, and Kari Lehtonen is one of the finest goalies around. Thank the skies over Finland for such a jewel of a goal-artist.