Byfuglien and Pavelec Combine To Beat The Bruins

Added on Nov 29, 2010 by J Merrill in

NHL

When things are happening for Dustin Byfuglien, the teams playing against the Atlanta Thrashers, need to be ready to play. Boston coach Claude Julien says “everything is going his way.” Byfuglien had a goal and three assists, and Ondrej Pavelec made 40 saves to help the Atlanta Thrashers win their fifth straight game, 4-1 over the Bruins on Sunday night. “I feel comfortable,” he said. “I wouldn’t put myself out there as dominating, but I’m just out there playing good hockey and having fun and trying to play as a team.” Byfuglien continued “We have to back each other up,” Byfuglien said. “We’re not afraid to go in and stand up for each other.” Pavelec made 16 saves in the second period. During the winning streak, he has stopped 201 of 207 shots. Byfuglien has complemented the goalie with nine points, including four goals, over the same span.

Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay isn’t surprised that Byfuglien. Byfuglien was a key acquisition to the Thrashers, and has been coming through big for them this year. “He’s up more than probably the vast majority of forwards,” Ramsay said. “He’s growing in the defensive zone, and that’s probably what I like better. When he gets in battles down low, he comes up with pucks and makes plays off it.”

Boston Coach Julien continued on about Byfuglien, “I think he’s done enough so far this year that he’s brought awareness to everybody who plays him,” Julien said. “I don’t think that’s a situation, but right now everything is going his way. Even that breakaway that he missed, the puck’s in the air, he batted it out of the air and it ended up on his stick. Now, we can call it talent, you can call it whatever you want, but there’s got to be a little bit of luck in there. When things go your way, you take advantage of it. He’s definitely a great player for them and he’s having a great year.”

The game was all Thrashers. Evander Kane, Dustin Byfuglien, and Jim Slater all put up goals in the first period for Atlanta. Blake Wheeler was able to net one for the Bruins, but in the closing seconds of the second period Niclas Bergfors. Gloves came off twice in the second period, resulting in a pair of fighting majors for both teams. Kane landed four punches to Matt Hunwick’s head before Boston’s Shawn Thornton appeared to get the better of Eric Boulton.

The Bruins, who won their first five road games, dropped to 8-3-0 away from TD Garden. “We had 40 shots, but sometimes shots don’t mean much,” Julien said. “I figured we had 19 scoring chances, and all we had to show for it was one goal. We put ourselves out of the game with four turnovers in the first period.” Tuukka Rask, giving No. 1 Bruins goalie Tim Thomas the night off, fell to 1-6-1 after losing his second straight start. He stopped 22 shots as Boston dropped to 0-5-2 this season when trailing after one period. “I let in four goals,” Rask said. “I do not give us a chance to win. To go down three goals in the first makes it hard to come back.”

The Atlanta Thrashers (12-9-3, 27pts) play the Colorado Avalanche (13-9-1, 27pts) tomorrow night, and the Boston Bruins (12-8-2, 26pts) play the Philadelphia Flyers (15-6-4, 34pts) on Wednesday.