January 16, 2012
Nabakov Wins 300th
by PR Wire Report/
Evgeni Nabokov won his 300th career game Saturday, as the Islanders defeated Buffalo 4-2 victory. Nabokov made 23 saves, though he got help from the post late.
With 1:24 remaining in the third period and the Isles up by one, Sabres sniper Thomas Vanek was awarded a penalty shot. Vanek wound up hitting the post.
“I was thinking about his 300th victory,” Isles Jack Capuano told NHL.com. “Hopefully he could go out with something that he probably wouldn’t forget… and with a minute and a half left in the game, (it’s) an elite player on a penalty shot.”
Nabokov is the 26th netminder to win 300 games, ahead of legendary names like Ken Dryden, Ron Hextall and Johnny Bower on the all-time wins list. In his next six wins, Nabokov will surpass Mike Richter (301), Turk Broda (302), Olaf Kolzig (303) and Islanders legend Billy Smith (305).
While Smith won 304 games with the Islanders, 293 of Nabokov’s wins came with his former club, the San Jose Sharks. He spent nine seasons in California, winning the Calder Trophy in 2000-01 and posting seven winning seasons. Nabokov won 40-plus games, three times, including a career-high 46 wins during the 2007-08 campaign.
A workhorse, Nabokov once started 43 consecutive games and has played up to 77 games in a season. His 300th win came in his 11th straight start for the Islanders.
Only three active goalies have more wins than Nabokov: Roberto Luongo, Nikolai Khabibulin and the NHL’s all-time wins leader Martin Brodeur.
