Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Goalies who scored

Cam Ward became the 10th NHL goalie to be credited with a goal, thanks in no small part to Ilya Kovalchuk.  The ten have combined for 12 goals, with Martin Brodeur and Ron Hextall each doing it twice.  The complete list (from wikipedia) is below:

Name Nationality Team Season Date Opposing team Final score
Notes
Billy Smith  CAN New York Islanders 1979–80 November 28, 1979 Colorado Rockies 4–7 OG
Ron Hextall  CAN Philadelphia Flyers 1987–88 December 8, 1987 Boston Bruins 5–2 SOG
Ron Hextall  CAN Philadelphia Flyers 1988–89 April 11, 1989 Washington Capitals 8–5 SOG, SHG
Chris Osgood  CAN Detroit Red Wings 1995–96 March 6, 1996 Hartford Whalers 4–2 SOG
Martin Brodeur  CAN New Jersey Devils 1996–97 April 17, 1997 Montreal Canadiens 5–2 SOG
Damian Rhodes  USA Ottawa Senators 1998–99 January 2, 1999 New Jersey Devils 6–0 OG
Martin Brodeur  CAN New Jersey Devils 1999–2000 February 15, 2000 Philadelphia Flyers 4–2 OG, GWG
Jose Theodore  CAN Montreal Canadiens 2000–01 January 2, 2001 New York Islanders 3–0 SOG
Evgeni Nabokov  RUS
 KAZ
San Jose Sharks 2001–02 March 10, 2002 Vancouver Canucks 7–4 SOG, PPG
Mika Noronen  FIN Buffalo Sabres 2003–04 February 14, 2004 Toronto Maple Leafs 6–4 OG
Chris Mason  CAN Nashville Predators 2005–06 April 15, 2006 Phoenix Coyotes 5–1 OG
Cam Ward  CAN Carolina Hurricanes 2011–12 December 26, 2011 New Jersey Devils 4–2 OG
 
What's amazing is how many have had a connection with the Isles.
Billy Smith is (of course) the only Islander goalie to be credited with a goal.
Jose Theodore's goal was an empty netter against the Isles.
Ron Hextall, Chris Osgood and Evgeni Nabokov all scored and later played for the Isles.   (Nabokov currently has 1 fewer career win than Osgood)
While Damian Rhodes was technically never an Islander, he was part of the trade that brought Bryan Berard to Long Island and sent Wade Redden to Ottawa. (Rhodes went from Toronto to Ottawa)

Ward already has his name scattered through the Isles' record book, as he is 14-2-1 against the Isles (including 5-0-0 in the last 5, 9-0-1 in the last 10 and 14-1-1 since losing his third NHL start to the Islanders in 2005..  Two games particularly come to mind: On October 25, 2008 the Isles fired a club record 60 shots at Ward, but fell 4-3 when Ward stopped Doug Weight on a penalty shot with 7/10th of a second remaining in the third.  Late that season, in Carolina, Ward beat the Isles 9-0 -- the most one-sided loss (and shutout) in club history.

Perhaps, Ward will someday follow the path of several of the other scoring goalies and eventually play for the Isles.  Ward by the way will celebrate his 7th birthday on February 29th (you'll refer to him as being 28), meaning that he was born on February 29, 1984-  the day Pat Lafontaine and Patrick Flatley debuted for the Islanders in a game in Winnipeg.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

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