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Someone remind Atlanta they have a game tonight.

Oh, it's too late? Oh well.

Tonight was exhibit A why I think the Thrashers are just not very good. Enstrom can run a power play but he's a turnover machine, I love Kovalchuk and Hossa, but beyond that it's mostly chopped liver, and the team doesn't bring a consistent effort every night.

I wish I still had NHL Center Ice because the Thrashers were one of my favorite teams to watch and root for - but this year is not their year.

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agreed, but having said that, the Devils looked like the defensive force of old tonight. is it me or have they returned to a more defensive-oriented system over the last few games? tonight they allowed only 22 shots, and it looked like they weren't forechecking very aggressively even in the first period when it was 0-0. i've only noticed it for the last two games, so it could be either that:

a) they decided to go with a particular gameplan against Pitt and Atl (both teams fairly one-dimensional with a big disparity in talent from their top weapons to their core)

b) they decided to permanently shy back towards a more defensive style

c) they are just playing well and "clicking" better positionally

not sure what the exact deal is.....but it also helps when Marty gives you this:

.961 Sv% over his last four games

Devs have won three in a row and are back to .500 for the first time this season....one hockey stat guy (I forget which one), at the end of the season, basically discards the first 20 games of the season when looking at team stats because he believes NHL teams change so much from the beginning of the season to the end.....interesting....

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how do i surf this forum compulsively and miss this post? I agree with a great deal of it, especially discarding the first 20 games - I wish I weren't so lazy, otherwise I'd research free agent performance for the first half of seasons dating back to the beginning of the last CBA (1995). I think I'd find that that performance is generally down compared to their previous season and their next season.

anyway, bump for NJ's 6th win in a row - and yes, they are playing more 'trap' hockey lately, although it's helped that they're actually getting leads in games.

Reports of New Jersey's demise were greatly exaggerated. Colin White has played tremendous and Paul Martin has jumped right up to play some terrific defensive hockey as well.