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Monday, Dec. 27 7:30pm ET
Isles: First consecutive wins this season | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- It was the goal that wasn't, and that was the turning point for the Boston Bruins. New York Islanders rookie goalie Roberto Luongo stopped 34 shots for his first career shutout in Monday's 3-0 victory over the Bruins. But there was a 35th shot that didn't count, one that could have changed the complexion of the game. The teams each had 10 shots during the scoreless first period. New York's 11th shot, just 38 seconds into the second, gave the Islanders the lead for good. Mariusz Czerkawski poked the puck away from Bruins forward Dave Andreychuk at the Islanders blue line and sped down left wing. He spotted Mats Lindgren moving down the slot and fed a behind-the-back pass. Lindgren took the puck, cut left, and as goalie Rob Tallas went down, flipped a shot over his outstretched pad. "We're very much a first-goal squad," Islanders coach Butch Goring said. "But most teams in the NHL are like that." The Islanders took a 2-0 lead at 11:55 when Bill Muckalt banged home a rebound for his first Islanders goal since being acquired from Vancouver on Dec. 19. "It feels good," Muckalt said, "and the sooner, the better." Only 1:10 later, the controversial non-goal took place. While mounting pressure in the Islanders zone, Boston defenseman Darren VanImpe took a slapshot from the left point. The puck flew over Luongo's rising glove and kicked back out at an angle where it appeared to hit the post. The video replay judge ruled it no goal, though there were black markings on the inside of the net right by the post. Bruins coach Pat Burns did not agree with the call. "I don't think -- I know it was in," Burns said. "But it's not up to the referees, so what are you going to do? It was the video replay guy, and when you see the replay, it'll make you sick. If it counts, it's 2-1 and a different game at that point." Andreychuk agreed with Burns. "It never hit the post and it never hit the boards," Andreychuk said. "It got hung up in the mesh. I don't know how they missed that. There was no sound, and that was a pretty hard shot to make no sound." The Islanders took their two-goal lead into the third period, mindful of protecting the win and Luongo's shutout. New York, one of the few teams in the Eastern Conference that doesn't use a trap system, kept its forecheck simple, and capitalized on a two-on-one break late in the game when Niklas Andersson carried the puck down right wing and beat Tallas to the far corner at 15:28. Luongo preserved the blanking, but didn't make a big deal about it. "It's not the Stanley Cup, it's just a shutout here," Luongo said. "I'm happy I accomplished it. It's a stepping stone -- another one behind me." Defenseman Jamie Rivers said that nobody spoke on the bench about the shutout. "It's a situation where nobody says a word about it, but everybody's aware of it," Rivers said. "We're all very happy for Roberto and for ourselves for the way we played." Goring was happiest about his team's defensive play to protect the shutout and the win. "The third period was probably the strongest team defense we've played all year," Goring said. "We didn't give Boston many opportunities." And as a reward, New York has consecutive wins for the first time this season. "It took over 30 games for us to win two in a row," Goring said, "but it's nice that we finally got it done." | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Boston Clubhouse NY Islanders Clubhouse RECAPS Philadelphia 5 Calgary 1
NY Islanders 3
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