Thrashers Notebook: October 29, 2009 -- There's fight left in these Thrashers

October 29, 10:35 PMAtlanta Thrashers ExaminerPhil Foley

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Ovechkin celebrates Washington's 4-3 win over the Thrashers on Thursday night at Philips Arena.

(AP Photo/Gregory Smith)

Life without Ilya Kovalchuk did not start off that well for the Atlanta Thrashers.

But did you expect when you spot the Washington Capitals another three-goal lead?

Let’s take a look at what went wrong in Atlanta’s fourth straight loss.

1) You can’t play uphill and expect to win. For the third straight time, the Thrashers spotted a team a three-goal lead. And once again, the Thrashers finally decided to play hockey in the last half of the game and lost.

Atlanta blistered 33 shots at Washington netminder Seymon Varlamov in the final two frames, but could not overcome a shaky first period.

You simply can’t win hockey games when you do not give a full 60 minutes of effort, especially against a team like the Capitals.

“Not being prepared from the get-go,” Atlanta forward Colby Armstrong said of Atlanta’s recent stretch of slow starts. “That’s pretty evident. What else can I say?”

2) It was only a matter of time. The Thrashers held all-world forward Alex Ovechkin to zero goals and three assists in their last five games. And anyone who knows anything about hockey, knows that the NHL’s best player is not going to stay off of the scoresheet for very long.

True to script, Ovechkin found the net twice on Thursday.

The first tally was a no brainer. Ovechkin staked himself on the left point on the power play. Ron Hainsey deflected the puck and the two-time Maurice Richard Trophy winner easily beat the young goaltender midway through the first period.

Maxim Afinogenov fell down and Ovechkin took advantage for his second tally of the night. Nicklas Backstrom found the streaking Russian with a two-line pass and Pavelec had no chance. Ovechkin’s shot from the high slot sailed over the glove of Pavelec into the top shelf of the net for the eventual game winner.

3) Life without Kovalchuk not so good. It’s going to take a lot for the Thrashers to pick up the offensive slack of captain Kovalchuk, who lead the team with nine goals before his bad break.

And Atlanta’s newly constituted lines sputtered a bit on Thursday night.

Whether it was the quality of the opposition or that we’re in for some rough waters while Kovalchuk is on the shelf remains to be seen.

“He’s a big part of their team,” Ovechkin said. “He’s a goal scorer and a leader. Of course they missed him, but it is what it is.”

4) Some modest surprises with the new lines. Rich Peverley skated with the two Russians on Atlanta’s first line. Evander Kane remained with Colby Armstrong and was joined by Marty Reasoner on line No. 3. Jim Slater returned from the press box to anchor the fourth line.

The only real upset here was Kane vs. Pevs, but given with how jumbled the line situation was this week with Nik Antropov’s groin injury, it’s not exactly a Truman defeats Dewey shocker.

5) Bogosian gets the point. Zach Bogosian was given Kovalchuk’s duties on the left point in Atlanta’s No. 1 power play unit. And the second-year blueliner, who lead the way with five shots for the home team on Saturday night, came out sniping.

The offensive-minded defenseman beat Varlamov with a laser from the point for Atlanta’s first goal in this one. He also added a tally in the game’s final second.

Quote of the night: “That’s great (that we fought to the end). But it’s not enough. It’s not good enough. We’ve got to pull our heads out of our you know what.” – Armstrong on the Thrashers’ late comeback.