Panthers Win 1-0 Despite 53 Shots By The Islanders

The Islanders hit 53 shots on Panthers goalie, Craig Anderson, but he stopped every one of them, giving the Panthers a 1-0 victory yesterday at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. The Elias Sports Bureau determined that it was the most shots by a losing team in a shutout since the NHL made shots on goal an official statistic in 1955. The Islanders had 29 shots on goal in the second period alone, which is one more than the previous team record accomplished twice before, in 2004 and 1978. The previous record for the most shots without a goal in one game was 42 in 2002 against Montreal.

In the old days with Mike Bossy and the gang, there would never be that many shots at the net without having a few go in. Islanders coach, Ted Nolan, said his team should have had a better result. Coming off a 4-1 loss to the Flyers the day before, The 1st period began slowly for the Islanders . Backup goalie, Wade Dubielewicz, started instead of Rick DiPietro, who was out due to a death in the family. Dubielewicz had a good start but he allowed one rebound off his stick that went to the Panther's David Booth in the slot. The shot deflected off of Josef Vasicek's stick at 9:57.

Florida's Stephen Weiss was knocked down by Freddy Meyer, Islanders' defense man, during the 2nd period. Anderson made a stick save on a break-in by Andy Hilbert and got some help from the right post on a shot by Mike Comrie.

In the final 5 minutes, Blake Comeau stopped Jeff Tambellini on a point-blank shot in front. A minute later, Anderson stopped Sean Bergenheim's rebound attempt, then made a left pad save on a shot that Ruslan Fedotenko couldn't lift on the doorstep. The Panthers might have had the best scoring opportunity in the period, but Dubielewicz stopped Steve Montador on a 3-on-1 rush with 35 seconds left. It was frustrating to see the Islanders miss a couple of open nets.

Despite all the shots, there were too many times the Islanders were not in position for rebounds in front and were a too slow in getting to passes through the slot. Scoring hasn't been the Islanders' strength. They had their previous season high of 52 shots Tuesday in a 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh. With losses in 4 of their past 5 games, they stand tenth in the Eastern Conference, 5 points out of a playoff spot. Next is a challenge against the Rangers, who are 7points ahead in seventh. It's definitely do or die for the Islanders at this point.