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Wednesday, Nov. 10 7:30pm ET
Isles rookie nets winner in first NHL game | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Josh Green didn't wait long to pay dividends for the New York Islanders.
The 21-year-old left wing broke a scoreless tie with 5:42 left
in his first game since being recalled from the minors as New York
beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 Wednesday night.
"He had a heck of a hockey game," coach Butch Goring said of
Green, who was called up from Lowell, Mass., on Monday and played
in his first NHL game this season. "We know he has some skill and
some ability to score."
After a battle for the puck along the center-ice boards, Olli
Jokinen fed Green just over the blue line and his low shot beat Arturs Irbe on the glove side for the game-winner. Defenseman Sean
Hill screened Irbe on the shot.
It was only Green's second goal in 28 career NHL games.
"We've had some injuries, but we want to reward people who have
gone down to the minors and played hard," Goring said. "He gave
us a reason to call him back."
Felix Potvin stopped 25 shots for his 13th career shutout as the
Islanders broke a six-game losing streak to the Hurricanes.
"He has got to be very pleased with the way he's playing
because he's back to that all-star form," Goring said of Potvin.
"He is giving us a chance to win each and every night."
Mariusz Czerkawski scored his sixth goal with 50 seconds left to
put the game away.
Carolina, second in the NHL in road points (13), continued to
struggle in its new building. The loss dropped the Hurricanes to
1-3 at home, including a pair of shutouts.
"We didn't play well enough to win, and in this league if you
don't do it you're not going to win," said Carolina's Jeff
O'Neill. "They are in last place in our conference and we didn't
do what it took to win. If we do that tomorrow night then we'll get
beat 6-0. We deserved what we got."
New York, one of the lowest scoring teams in the league with 26
goals in 13 games, has struggled against Carolina, scoring a
combined six goals in the last six meetings. But two was enough
Wednesday night.
The Islanders came into the game tied with Montreal and
Pittsburgh for the fewest points (8) in the NHL, but played a solid
game on the road against the tight-checking Hurricanes, who beat
them 4-0 on Oct. 30 in New York.
Potvin kept the game scoreless through two periods with a pair
of spectacular saves. He stopped Carolina defenseman Curtis
Leschyshyn from point-blank range 34 seconds into the second period
with a sliding pad save, then was quick to stop a tip-in try by Bates Battaglia 13 minutes later.
Carolina, tied with Boston as the least penalized team in the
NHL, went without a penalty for the first time since a January 1980
loss to the Islanders. It was also the first time in the
franchise's 21 years the team has played a penalty-free game at
home.
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