Blues, Thrashers searching for winning formula
Last Updated: Sunday, November 8, 2009 | 12:09 PM ET
The Associated Press
St. Louis Blues goalie Chris Mason, right, will do his best to keep his team and their struggling offence in the game once again when they face the Atlanta Thrashers on Sunday. (Al Bello/Getty Images)The St. Louis Blues and Atlanta Thrashers are losing for different reasons, but they are both losing.
The Blues look to shake their offensive woes and avoid dropping a fifth straight game Sunday against a Thrashers team having little success keeping its opponents from scoring.
St. Louis (5-6-3) has been getting solid goaltending from Chris Mason, but the offence has been unable to carry its weight.
The Blues have scored two goals during a four-game skid and have lost nine of 12, recording two goals or fewer in each of the defeats. For the season thus far, St. Louis is tied with Nashville for the fewest goals in the NHL with 31.
St. Louis wasted another stellar performance Saturday by Mason, who has lost three of his last five outings despite a 1.76 goals-against average in that span. The netminder turned aside 35 shots in a 2-1 shootout loss in Philadelphia, with T.J. Oshie scoring the lone goal for the Blues.
Although the Blues had another subpar performance, coach Andy Murray thought his team showed improvement.
"It was a 1-1 hockey game and both teams were going hard to the net," he said. "Our team battled hard and as long as you keep working like this, you get rewarded down the road. We'll find a way to get two points if we keep playing this hard."
While St. Louis has struggled to find the back of the net, Atlanta (6-6-1) is giving up goals in bunches.
Atlanta's defence a liability
The Thrashers, coming off Saturday's 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders, have allowed at least four goals in six of seven games, losing five of those contests.
Atlanta's defence didn't give goalie Ondrej Pavelec much of a chance Saturday, allowing the Islanders to fire 45 shots on goal. Pavelec stopped 31 of 36 shots before being removed for the start of the third period. It was the third time in four games he faced at least 36 shots.
"It was like we had three or four guys show up and the rest of the guys didn't," Thrashers coach John Anderson said.
"That's embarrassing. We can't play like that. That's absolutely embarrassing."
Getting things turned around at Philips Arena might not be easy for Atlanta.
The Thrashers, who play five of their next six at home, have lost four straight there since defeating Tampa Bay 6-3 in their Oct. 3 home opener.
Zach Bogosian, Pavel Kubina, and Christoph Schubert scored Saturday for the Thrashers, who played their fifth straight game without leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk, who's expected to miss another two weeks with a broken bone in his right foot.
Kovalchuk had two scores in a 4-2 win at St. Louis on Oct. 8. Pavelec stopped 29 shots in that game while Mason made 18 saves for the Blues.
Atlanta backup Johan Hedberg, who made eight saves on nine chances Saturday, is 4-2-0 with a 1.98 GAA and one shutout in six career starts against the Blues, but hasn't faced them since 2005, while playing for Dallas.
