Quebecer Samuel Bolduc scored his first National Hockey League (NHL) goal on Tuesday in New York, paving the way for the Islanders to win 4-0 against the Seattle Kraken.
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The 22-year-old took advantage of the presence of five players between him and Martin Jones to fire a wrist shot from the point that found the back of the net. He thus opened the scoring for the local favorites as he played his fifth meeting on the circuit.
Bolduc was a second-round pick, the 57th overall selection, in the 2019 draft. He started the 2022-23 season with the Bridgeport Islanders of the American Hockey League (AHL), before being recalled January 23. The Lavallois wore the colors of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (LHJMQ).
Bo Horvat also scored his first goal in an Islanders uniform. Simon Holmstrom and Zach Parise were the other players to beat Jones (23 saves), while Ilya Sorokin turned aside all 31 pucks for him for his fifth shutout this season and 15th of his career.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau picked up two assists.
Wait for the tranche
Another Quebecer shone in Pittsburgh. It’s defenseman Kristopher Letang, who scored the winning goal in overtime to give the Penguins a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche.
Letang hit the target after his club ran out a shorthanded streak under a penalty awarded to Evgeni Malkin. The latter was also an accomplice of the winning goal, just like captain Sidney Crosby.
The Penguins thus avoided a third loss in a row, while the Avalanche suffered only a second defeat in their last nine meetings.
Mike Sullivan’s troupe, however, came very close to being cleared in this meeting. It took a jump on the leg of Bryan Rust, with just over three minutes to go in the third period, to take a shutout from Pavel Francouz. The latter still made 36 saves, against 41 for Casey DeSmith.
Nathan MacKinnon also moved the ropes in this encounter.
Cale Makar, hit hard in the head by Jeff Carter, left the game in the third period. The NHL’s most-used player and Norris Trophy holder, however, returned to the game afterwards.
Encore McDavid
Connor McDavid had at least one point in his 13th consecutive game as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Red Wings 5-2 in Detroit.
The league’s leading scorer had to wait until the last five minutes of the game to extend his streak, helping Ryan Nugent-Hopkins score his 23rd goal of the season on a power play.
Warren Foegele scored a brace in the win.
