Boychuk's short-handed goal sends Isles past Coyotes
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[October 22, 2016]
NEW YORK -- More than five years
after they teamed up to win the Stanley Cup, Dennis Seidenberg and
Johnny Boychuk checked another item off their to-do list Friday
night.
Seidenberg scored the Islanders' first goal in the first period and
Boychuk tallied the game-winner early in the third period as New
York edged the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 at Barclays Center.
It was the first time in five seasons as teammates that the recently
reunited ex-Boston Bruins -- who won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins
in 2011 -- have scored in the same game.
Of course, given that the two defensemen combined for 78 goals in
1,231 NHL games, it's not exactly surprising they hadn't scored in
the same game before Friday -- even if Seidenberg, tongue planted
firmly in cheek, feigned unhappiness when told he's not known for
his offense.
"What do you mean?" said a grinning Seidenberg, who remained with
the Bruins through last spring before signing with the Islanders
following the World Cup of Hockey in September. "We try and create
offense. Luckily it happened tonight. Have to keep it up."
Across the aisle in the Islanders' locker room, Boychuk did his best
to burnish the resume of Seidenberg, who opened the scoring by
taking a pass from Casey Cizikas and firing over the glove hand of
Louie Domingue for his first goal since Feb. 14.
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"Dennis usually scores a lot of goals, he's usually scoring from the
red line," said Boychuk, whom the Bruins traded to the Islanders on
the eve of the 2014-15 season.
Ryan Strome scored with 6:29 left in the first to give the Islanders
a 2-0 lead before the Coyotes tied the game with two goals -- one
apiece by Brad Richardson and Radim Vrbata -- in a 13-second span
less than a minute later.
After a scoreless second period, Boychuk snapped the tie with a
short-handed goal -- the first of his 10-year career -- early in the
third that neither he nor Seidenberg will need to embellish too
much. Islanders center Brock Nelson won a faceoff deep in the
Coyotes' zone and the puck skittered to Boychuk, whose slap shot
sailed past Arizona goalie Louis Domingue at the 4:24 mark.
"A power play, 14 seconds (left), faceoff, that's a tough way to
lose a game," Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett said. "It's a shot
that probably should be stopped."
Even before teaming up to lift the Islanders on Friday, Seidenberg
and Boychuk -- the second- and third-oldest players on the roster --
were enjoying their reunion.
"We played with each other for quite a while," Seidenberg said. "To
be playing with him again, it's definitely fun. It feels good."
Said Boychuk: "Whenever you play with somebody you played with for a
while, it's nice to have him back and have him around for a little
while."
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![](../images/102216pics/sports59.jpg)
Islanders defenseman
Johnny Boychuk (55) celebrates scoring the game winning goal during
the third period against Arizona Coyotes at Barclays Center. New
York Islanders won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY
Sports
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The old friends might be playing more often -- and being asked to
provide more offense -- than they expected. The Islanders, who were
already without no. 1 defenseman Nick Leddy (upper body) on Friday,
lost Ryan Pulock, who replaced Leddy on the active roster, to a
lower body injury in the first period.
Head coach Jack Capuano, who is usually reluctant to offer any sort
of timetable for a player's return, admitted the injury could
sideline Pulock for an extended period of time.
"We have to evaluate where we are with Leddy," Capuano said. "We'll
know more (Saturday) if he can play on Sunday (against the Minnesota
Wild). If not, we're going to have to go to Plan B."
Regardless of who is on the back line, Capuano said he wants to
continue see defensemen contribute on offense. Defensemen accounted
for just 35 of New York's 227 goals last season but have three of
the 12 goals this year.
"We talk about our defense getting actively involved and tonight was
a perfect example," Capuano said.
Jaroslav Halak made 23 saves for the Islanders (2-3-0), who are
2-1-0 on a five-game homestand.
Domingue recorded 28 saves for the Coyotes (1-3-0), who are 0-3-0 on
a season-long six-game road trip in which they have been outscored
15-8.
"We competed hard, but you've got to find ways to win in this
league," Tippett said.
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NOTES: The Strome brothers, Islanders C Ryan Strome and Coyotes C
Dylan Strome, played against each other for the first time in the
NHL. Ryan Strome skated around his brother to score on a rebound in
the first period. Ryan said he didn't know if Dylan was responsible
for covering him but grinned and added " ... I know he ate the minus
and I've been eating a lot lately, so I could definitely use one on
my side." ... The Islanders scratched D Nick Leddy (upper body) as
well as C Mathew Barzal and G Jean-Francois Berube. ... The Coyotes
scratched D Kevin Connauton, D Jamie McBain and C Ryan White. ...
Coyotes D Michael Stone was active and played 20:28 after missing
all of training camp and the first three games of the regular season
following offseason knee surgery.
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