Atlanta Loses in NHL Return

Their team wasn’t victorious, but the hockey fans of Atlanta didn’t care Saturday night. They were just happy to have a team again.

After being away for 19 years, the NHL returned to Atlanta, with the expansion Thrashers falling to New Jersey, 4-1.

As the final seconds ticked away, the sellout crowd of 18,545 at the $213-million Philips Arena rose in unison to salute its team despite the loss on the historic opening night.

“That was incredible,” Thrasher General Manager Don Waddell said. “I think that shows the fans are ready for this and they’re going to be very supportive of this hockey club.”

For now, a forgiving fan base might be one of the Thrashers’ few advantages. Bobby Holik scored twice and Martin Brodeur stopped 25 of 26 shots for the Devils, who were dominated in the first period but seemed to take advantage of every Atlanta mistake.

Clearly inspired, the Thrashers dominated play in the first period, outshooting the Devils, 15-7. But Brodeur kept it scoreless with several nice saves.

New Jersey broke through at 8:58 of the second period by Krzysztof Oliwa, who intercepted a horrible, cross-ice pass by Nelson Emerson just inside the blue line, broke in alone on Damian Rhodes and beat the Thrashers goalie with a shot on the stick side.

Then, at 9:38, Holik scored the first of his goals from the top of the face-off circle, besting Rhodes again on the stick side after taking a nice pass from John Madden in the corner.

Kelly Buchberger, already the answer to one trivia question as the Thrashers’ first captain, forged into an even more memorable category by scoring the first goal in team history at 11:26 of the second.