Quebec defender Samuel Bolduc will long remember his fifth game in the National Hockey League.
Bolduc, a 22-year-old guard, scored his first-ever goal in the Bettman circuit on Tuesday, opening the scoring for the New York Islanders, who eventually won 4-0 against the Seattle Kraken.
Playing partner Scott Mayfield passed the puck to him a few feet inside the offensive blue line, and he fired a low wrist shot into heavy traffic, leaving goaltender Martin Jones no chance.
He was immediately congratulated for this first by captain Anders Lee, as well as deputy Brock Nelson.
Ilya Sorokin made 31 saves for his 5th shutout of the season, his second in a row, and the 15th of his career, in his third year on the Bettman circuit.
Lane Lambert’s squad therefore returned from the All-Star game break in great shape, having won two games in the space of 24 hours, and allowing only one goal in 120 minutes of play.
By aligning a 4th win in a row, the Isles (27-22-5) maintain the pace of the Pittsburgh Penguins (25-16-9), with 59 points each.
A 2nd round pick of the New Yorkers in 2019 (57th overall), Bolduc has been in the AHL since 2020, playing more than 100 games with the Bridgeport Islanders.
A native of Laval, Bolduc spent most of his time as a junior with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, before concluding with the Sherbrooke Phoenix in 2019-2020.
Newcomer Bo Horvat, acquired from the Vancouver Canucks last week, was playing his first game in front of the Long Island crowd, and he scored the 4th goal for his team, completing a staging by Mathew Barzal.
Horvat, who was voted the game’s first star, set a new career high on Tuesday, as it was his 32nd goal, one better than his total for the 2021-2022 season, scored in 70 games.
Simon Holmstrom and Zach Parise had the Islanders’ other goals, while Jean-Gabriel Pageau added two assists to his record, his 18th and 19th.