Final Meeting: Thrashers vs Capitals

Tonight was the final meeting of the Thrashers with their divisional rivals, the Washington Capitals. In our previous 5 meetings we had defeated them 3 times. January was a tough month for the Thrashers and we needed a win like Whitney Houston needs a hit.


Since this was the last time the Caps were coming through and I hadn't been down on their end for photographs this season, I headed into enemy territory.


My favorite Cap, Brooks Laich chewing his gum.



Brooks Laichs his gum.



Semyon Varlamov looks so mean! He's probably wondering why that fat American chick is taking pictures of him.

This is Varlie's theme song.


Now that Ovie has that fancy Gillette endorsement, he is clean shaven and has a neat haircut. It's a vast improvement.



Yeah, okay I have a lot of Brooksie pics.



Varlie is the angriest looking goalie.



Semyon taking some shots.



Mike Green handling the pucks.



More shots for Varlie.



Oh look, it's Brooksie again.



Backstrom should ask Ovie about his stylist.



Swarming Holtby.



While the others were swarming the goalie, Ovechkin stretched. While Ovechkin stretched, Backstrom did this little puck drill where he shot it back and forth through Ovie's skate.



I Laich Brooks.



Ovie likes his stick.



On to the game!


Johnny gets physical and tries to clear the crease.



Thanks asshole. Gotta love these shots.



Captain Ladd in front of the net trying to get the puck in.



The guys have some discussions.



Varlamov peeks through the screen.



Varlamov takes a shot and sends the puck to the side.



In the third period and back on this side of the ice, Varlie makes a save...but where IS the puck?



I know it's here somewhere.



After some digging, Varlie and the ref come up with the puck.



Through the chaos, Pavs holds on to the puck.



Bad Brooksie! You can't score on us.



The final minutes of the game are winding down and the Capitals are pushing hard.



Pavs watches the puck.



Buff and Pevs glance up at the clock hoping to see the final seconds ticking away.



Thrashers wing! Pavs makes 36 saves and gets a 1-0 shut out! The only goal of the game was scored by Nik Antropov.



Recently scratched for a few games, Zach Bogosian played with some hustle and had a good game. He was our post game show guest.



You might notice the post game show looking a little different. My good friends at the 680 the Fan now have a fancy new studio for the show, built by Weather Tite Windows (I expect a check for advertising!) The studio is gorgeous, but the guys on the inside are like in a bubble. You are separated by glass. It's kind of hard to feel like part of the show. It's like taking pictures at an aquarium.



Zach answers some questions from Dan Kamal and John Kincade.



More questions for Zach. Note the Silly Bandz he has.

No rest for the weary, the Thrashers continue to slump and the tough teams continue to march into Blueland. Tonight’s opponents were the New York Rangers. I decided to go down and see the King. I didn’t got take pictures of the Rangers at all last season for various reason. Another perk, Marty Biron is on the Rangers this season and I love taking pictures of him.


I got a spot right by the bench for warm ups. I was so close to the King only a few inches separated us, I thought I was gonna faint! Definitely the closest I’ve been to Henrik. Of course I always think of things too late, but I should have made him a “Congratulations” sign for his recent engagement.


All hail the King!



Marty Biron and Boulton chat it up. They are old buddies from their days together in Buffalo.



Marty always looks so happy in warm ups.



Here is one for your dart boards, everyones' most hated douchebag, Sean Avery.



Actually this one is better, he's looking at the camera. Your darts can land in his eyes.



Speaking of eyes....Marty Biron has the most amazing eyes. Unless you are my friend Paula who think they are creepy.



The King on his throne.



Henrik separated by a few centimeters of glass.



Henrik facing a few shots.



On the other end of the ice, looks like Pavs has some shiny new black pads.



My fantasy team boy, Brian Boyle. He's kind of like my poor man's Ryan Calahan, though I don't think I'll tell the 6'7'' Boyle that. He scored a goal, I had him on the bench, such is the week for my fantasy team.



Marty sees some rubber.



The King takes his net back.



All Star bound defenseman Marc Staal. I wonder if brother Eric will chose him? Eric says it was always him and the youngest Staal (Jared) vs the middle brothers (Jordan and Marc) so he is accustomed to playing against him.



I'd love to meet Marty Biron. He seems like such a nice guy and like he'd be a lot of fun.



Swarming the goalie.



Sean: Wow dude, you really DO look just like Froto.
Zuccarello: Yeah, I hear that a lot.
Sean: Like seriously, you are even hobbit sized!
Zuccarello: Yeah? Well you are a douche bag.



Newbury takes a shot to the King.



Henrik doing a bit of stick handling.



Close up of Marty Biron.



Up in the suite an injured Evander Kane and Jimmy Slater discuss something. Healthy scratch Bogosian scarfs something down.



My fantasy man, Brian Boyle takes a face off with Peverley.



Damn, that tomato has good seats...wait WHAT?



Pevs takes it to the King.



Ladd screening the King hoping for a goal.



No wonder the force wasn't with us tonight, too many storm troopers!



Henrik is telling Boulton he's getting a little too close for comfort.



All Star Marc Staal and Stewie jockey for a spot in front of Lundqvist.



Ladd isn't usually one to be on the fight card, but the Captain isn't one to back down.



Though it seems that all of my pictures show Girardi punching Ladd, the Captain held his own pretty well.



The tomato seems to be enjoying himself.



Lundqvist steers the puck away from the net.



I'm not sure if it was a friendly exchange, but something in the crowd caught Avery's attention.



He continued to look back, smile and run that never ceasing mouth of his.



Pavs keeps an eye on the puck.



Sopel chases Wolski and the puck.



Certain disaster for the Thrashers, a 5 on 3 penalty kill. When the Thrashers killed it off, they got a loud standing ovation from the crowd.



I love you on my fantasy team, Boyle, but watch it with manhandling Johnny!



Johnny, Boyle and friends in front of Pavs.



Pavs is under there somewhere.



Some chaos for Pavs.



Kiss cam! I love it when the opposing fans play along and aren't obscene. Well done, Rangers fans!



Buff and Anisimov battle in front of the net.



Pavelec's Dogs have a fancy new sign!

After a really exciting game, the Thrashers found themselves in territory that is all too familiar lately, tied. At 14:41 of the 3rd period, the Thrashers continued to display their inability to protect a lead and allowed Brian Boyle to score. Nothing was decided in OT so we go to a shootout.


The zamboni came out to clear the strip of ice for the shooters. It seemed to have some troubles near the King's net. Due to zamboni delay, Jamie and Candace were late getting the net back on the moorings. Didn't bother the King, he didn't wait at all, just started cutting up his ice.



He was swinging that stick back and forth and I just knew he was going to bust Candace in the face with it. Fortunately there would be no Blue Crew blood on the ice.



So the shoot out starts. Pavs makes the save on Wojtek Wolski.



One goal to win it all, the Hobbit, Zaccarello scores.



The Rangers win. Vomit.


Seriously disappointing shoot out loss AGAIN. We had a great crowd and it was an exciting game, but the same result. I've really enjoyed seeing Bogosian as a healthy scratch. The defensive pairing of Oduya and Sopel has worked well together. Hainsey has been playing really well too. It was a shame the guys couldn't feed off the energy of that 5 on 3 penalty they killed. Blah. Go Thrashers.