While this goal will surely help to relieve some of the pressure on the 32-year-old center, no one will be more relieved than the Montreal Canadiens management, as they should be able to sleep much easier knowing that they are now paying Scott Gomez $7-million/goal, rather than $7-million for no goals.

So the “Did Scott Gomez score last game” counter is now back to day one.  Will it reach day 365 again?  We should have an answer to that question by this time next season.

You can check out the goal that snapped his year-long drought in the video below.

Through 65 minutes of play these two teams combined to score a whopping zero goals.  The Islanders directed 18 shots on the Flyers goal throughout the evening, but they couldn’t manage to get a single puck by Ilya Bryzgalov during regulation and overtime.  Luckily for them, their goaltender put forth an even better effort, as Evgeni Nabokov stopped all 45 shots he faced from the Flyers during the game, and he even stopped both shots he faced in the shootout to help his team earn the 1-0 victory.

The win was Nabokov’s sixth in his last seven games.  As for the shutout, it was only his second of the season, and it earns him “The Stat Line of the Night” for Tuesday, February 7, 2012.

The 2009 first overall pick made it quite obvious that he was the only All-Star caliber player on the ice last night as he put forth a dominating performance that was highlighted by a three point third period that helped the Islanders escape with the 5-2 road victory.  Tavares recorded two goals and one assist during the final 20 minutes of the game, and he also added a first period assist during his four-point performance.  That moved him all the way up into a tie for fourth in NHL scoring (53 points), and it also earned him “The Stat Line of the Night” for Tuesday, January 31, 2012.

Similar to other lists we’ve done recently (like the best places to watch college basketball), in evaluating NHL venues, we’re looking at a combination of fan enthusiasm, venue amenities, ambiance, and of course quality hockey. Some of the places that made the list have all but one of these qualities. Some have none. Still, creating the list was obviously an exercise in subjectivity, so keep that in mind as you read on.

So who made the list? Click on to find out.

And while Niederreiter, Gerbe and several others engaged in a meaningless shoving match, Matt Martin of the Islanders and Zack Kassian of the Buffalo Sabres decided to separate themselves from the pack and provide us with the following bout, which is a worthy recipient of the “Frozen Fisticuffs Fight of the Night” for Tuesday, November 29, 2011.

Check it out.

(h/t The Big Lead)

Islanders fans knew that when their team used their fifth-overall pick on the former Niagara Ice Dogs forward, they were getting a special player with tons of creativity and an incredible set of hands.  However, I doubt any of them knew that those attributes would translate into what they saw during the Islanders’ Blue vs. White skills competition on Saturday night.

Thanks to Strome and his beautiful shootout goal, we may now have a reason to care about the New York Islanders.

Just before the playoffs began, general manager Bill Torrey made a controversial decision to trade away long-time Islander veterans Billy Harris and Dave Lewis to the Los Angeles Kings for center Butch Goring.  Goring would add depth down the middle as he served as the second line center, taking away some of the defensive attention from the first line of Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Clark Gillies.  Many considered Butch Goring to be the final piece of the puzzle.

The Islanders would face the Philadelphia Flyers, the league’s best team during the regular season, in the finals.  After taking a 3-2 series lead, New York headed home for Game 6, where Bob Nystrom scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal in overtime.  Bryan Trottier was named the Conn Smythe award winner as the Most Valuable Player in the playoffs.

Here is a look at Nystrom’s Stanley Cup clinching goal.

Notable Birthdays

Joe Dumars, NBA – Born May 24th 1963 (age 48) in Shreveport, Louisiana

Brad Penny, MLB – Born May 24th 1978 (age 33) in Blackwell, Oklahoma

Tracy McGrady, NBA – Born May 24th 1979 (age 32) in Bartow, Florida

Usually we’d like to choose only one fight to receive our “Frozen Fisticuffs Fight of the Night,” but these four combatants made that decision much to difficult, so they all earn a piece of the pie.