Evgeni Nabokov blocks all 45 as New York Islanders shutout Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 -NHL Update
Evgeni Nabokov shined on Tuesday night, February 7, 2012, by making a perfect 45 save performance, as the New York Islanders shutout the Philadelphia Flyers, 1-0, at the sold-out Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Being one of the lowest ranked teams in the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season but that did not matter against one of the fourth number team in the Eastern Conference as the Islanders kept fighting despite a tough competition from the
Flyers side.
"I thought he was great," Islanders coach, Jack Capuano, said. "The third period was a key period for them. We lost Dylan Reese in the second, we're down to five defensemen, (Milan) Jurcina is out, we've got Travis Hamonic out. They had a ton of shots in
the third and they really tilted the ice, but Nabby made some key saves for us. No question about that."
Both teams struggled in regulation to fight for a goal but Philadelphia did a good job in keeping the New York Islanders defence at a minimum, allowing them only 18 attempts on their veteran goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov, while making 45 on Nabokov.
"They were all decent and quality shots," Nabokov said. "Sometimes you get a rebound, a weird bounce and they go in.”
With a number of players on the teams injured reserve, New York was expected to struggle, especially against a team like Philadelphia Flyers, but the Islanders managed to pull off a thrilling victory.
The Islanders have now won three of the past four matchups, losing only one against the struggling Buffalo Sabres team, but they still have a long way to go from playoff glory as they stand at number 11 in the Eastern Conference with 22-22-8.
After a number of missed attempts in regulation and in an overtime extension, New York scored on both of their first two shootout attempts as Frans Nielsen and John Tavares fired it through Bryzgalov while Philadelphia missed on both, giving Islanders the
much deserved win.
Islanders have the next at home against Montreal Canadiens on Thursday while Philadelphia Flyers host Toronto Maple Leafs on the same day.
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