2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series – Atlanta Thrashers win 4-2 against the Washington Capitals in a thrashing performance
The 11th game of the 2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series took place at the Phillips Arena, home of the Atlanta Thrashers. The game saw the Atlanta Thrasher up against the good Washington Capitals side. The game took place this Friday with around
15,500 people coming to support their respective teams. However, the Washington Capitals silenced the fans early on, but the home team Atlanta Thrashers eventually won the match 4-2.
1st Period
As the game started, both teams were reluctant on making full press on attacks. They waited for the right opportunity and open spaces. But this didn’t happen as the defence of the team was perfectly aware of the proceedings around them. They cut down any
plays that might have led to danger for the team.
The Washington Capitals were the team that pressed frequently early on and with constant hard work, they scored in the 4th minute of the period to take the lead. The goal was scored by Brooks Laich through a slap off from 10 feet.
The Atlanta Thrashers responded to this in spectacular fashion that saw the Atlanta Thrashers keep the possession for quite a while. They were looking on finding spaces in the Washington Capitals defence. Not showing signs of urgency, the Atlanta Thrashers
were pushing forward for a goal. They were successful as they scored in the 8th minute to level the score at 1-1. The goal was scored by Evander Kane in from 39 feet.
When the whistle for the end of the period was heard, the Atlanta Thrashers stack up 11 shots with one goal. The Washington Capitals also scored once out of the 6 goal attempts.
2nd Period
The 2nd period started good for the Washington Capitals as they were looking to take the lead. They made 3 attempts early on that could have turned into goals but the puck went outside each time.
The Atlanta Thrashers waited for the Washington Capitals to make a mistake and catch them on the counter attack. Though this happened but the Atlanta Thrashers couldn’t punish then as Ben Eager’s shot went wide.
However, the Atlanta Thrashers scored in the 16th minute of the period when they were put into the lead through Andrew Ladd. The goal came from a 14 feet tip in by the player. Leading the game 2-1, the Atlanta Thrashers were looking to close down
chances of any comeback by the Washington Capitals. They were successful in doing so when Evander Kane scored in the 19th minute from a penalty shoot.
When the Atlanta Thrashers scored again in the 19th minute and took the score to 3-1, the home crowd went wild and were sure that their team would win. The period ended on the same score with the Washington Capitals making 9 goal attempts out
of which none went into the net. The Atlanta Thrashers score twice out of the 11 goal attempts this time.
3rd Period
The team talk during the break seemed to work for the Washington Capitals as they found players in open positions quite often. What remained an unanswered question was that whether not the Washington Capitals could score given that the strong defence of
the Atlanta Thrashers.
Constant penetration and hard work paid off for the Washington Capitals as they scored in the 9th minute of the period through Mike Knuble. The 17 feet slap off took the score to 2-3 and gave the Washington Capitals chance for a comeback.
However, this was not to be as the defence and offence of the Atlanta Thrashers, both responded to this and they started to form goal threatening plays of their own. The Atlanta Thrashers completely shut the chances of a Washington Capitals comeback when
they scored in the 15th minute through Frederick Modin. The game ended with the Atlanta Thrashers wining 4-2.
"I think, you know, we got through the first period and that was the hardest thing," said goalie Chris Mason, who replaced Pavelec after the 23-year-old Czech native, was taken off on a stretcher.
"It was really tough even focusing on playing a game and having that killer instinct and that game mentality when you can't stop thinking about your teammate.”
After the game, Washington Capitals Captain said:
"We did not play our game at all."
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