Ilya Kovalchuk keeps on scoring, Evander Kane notched his first multi-goal game and Maxim Afinogenov tallied twice.
Needless to say, the Atlanta Thrashers rolled.
Kane lead a four-shot, four-goal second period outburst with a tally and Kovalchuk and Afinogenov each notched four points, leading the Thrashers to a 7-0 blanking of the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night at Philips Arena.
Ondrej Pavelec set aside 38 shots to record his first shutout and Zach Bogosian tallied for the suddenly-scorching Thrashers, who have won three straight games.
“We played great hockey tonight,” Pavelec said. “Kovalchuk’s back.”
This one had a bit of everything, including much of the same from Kovalchuk.
Four quick Thrashers goals in a 5:04 span of the middle period, a brutal five-on-five fight that resulted in 50 penalty minutes and sensational sweeping tally by Afinogenov with the game well in hand in the third period.
About the only thing missing was a hat trick.
As always, the Thrashers success begins and ends with Kovalchuk, who has an astounding seven points (three goals and four helpers) since returning to the ice last night in New York.
Atlanta’s captain went cliché after this one, claiming that Atlanta’s four points were more important than his statistical accomplishments.
His coach, John Anderson, had just a tiny little difference of opinion.
“He’s a superstar,” he said. “I saw him make an unbelievable backhanded pass in practice. I was standing beside Nik Antropov and said, ‘how does he do that?’ He looked at me and said, ‘he’s a superstar.’ That pretty much sums it up.”
The scary thing is that Anderson thinks that Kovy can get better.
“When I played and I missed two practices, I could tell the difference,” Anderson said. “I still think he’s going to hit his stride.”
Well, at least they could agree on that one.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” Kovalchuk said when asked if he could still improve. “It’s still going to take me time to heal all the way.”
After a rather unremarkable 30 minutes of hockey in front of a sedate Philips Arena, the Thrashers finally breathed some life into the place with four goals midway through the period.
Kane shot and scored. Kovalchuk shot and scored. Bogosian shot and scored. Three Atlanta shots, 3-0 Thrashers.
Los Angeles changed goalies, swapping Jonathan Quick for Erik Ersberg.
On this Friday the 13th, it didn’t matter too much, Afinogenov took a shot and – you guessed it – scored on the next Atlanta shot anyway.
And just like that the game was out of hand and it was time for Friday night at the fights.
Christoph Schubert cross-checked a Los Angeles player down against the boards in the Atlanta zone and all heck broke loose in the arena.
Chris Thorburn and Raitis Ivanans sparred in the main event. Eric Boulton tangled with Matt Greene while Jim Slater sparred with Brad Richardson.
Schubert and Mark Popovic and Peter Harrold and Davis Drewiske clutched each other around the boards.
The only two that weren’t brawling were Pavelec and Ersberg, although Ersberg appeared to at least adjust his equipment on the other side of the ice.
“I saw it, he did something with his chest protector,” Pavelec joked. “I don’t know, maybe in a different situation, I would do something. Well, probably not. I’m not a tough guy.”
The game got even uglier in the final 1:59 after L.A.’s Justin Williams followed Schubert to the bench during a change and checked him from behind. Schubert had his bell rung, crashing awkwardly to the boards through an open gate at the Thrashers bench.
“I don’t want to comment on it,” Anderson said. “I didn’t think that it was a good hit. Obviously, (Williams) got five minutes for it, but the refs took control.”
Perhaps the second period fracas added a little bit of an additional spark to the Thrashers, who refused to go lightly on the Kings in the final period.
Kovalchuk added a power play tally at the 6:00 mark with his patented shot from the left point. Afinogenov followed with that sensational sweeping tally at the 12:01 mark before Kane finished it off, chipping in on a shorthanded 2-on-1 break with 3:26 remaining.
It was the first shorthanded goal for Kane, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2009 draft.
“It went well tonight,” Kane said. “It really went well. … It’s definitely nice to get rewarded for working hard.”
Not to be overlooked was the sensational play of Pavelec, who stymied Los Angeles’ Alexander Frolov with a sensational butterfly save in the first period. The Czech netminder had a scare in the final period, falling to the ice after taking a shot to the knee off the stick of Dustin Brown midway through the final period.
But he was not about to miss out on his first NHL shutout.
“The last two minutes, I couldn’t believe it,” Pavelec said of the shutout. “The last three seasons, they scored in the last few minutes. It’s the first one and I’m real happy for it, but I’m more happy for the two points.”
Antropov added his team-leading 15th assist for the Thrashers, who climbed into the eight spot in the Eastern Conference with the win.
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