Zdeno Chara closes Islanders' season with late goal in finale loss to Lightning
Islanders 6-9 defenseman Zdeno Chara, left, who is 45 and considering retirement, scored his second goal of the season and 209th of his career with 44 seconds left in a 6-4 loss to Tampa Bay on Friday night, April 29, 2022, at UBS Arena.
Credit: Brad Penner
The sellout crowd at UBS Arena repeatedly implored Zdeno Chara to shoot. Finally, with 43.4 seconds left in the Islanders’ season, the future Hall of Famer connected on a seeing-eye shot from the blue line for his second goal of the season and his first on home ice.
The scene after that was one the 45-year-old Chara and the rest of the Islanders will not forget. With the crowd chanting his name at the buzzer in the Islanders’ season-ending 6-4 loss to the Lightning on Friday night, his teammates gathered to hug him. Then the playoff-bound Lightning players, one by one, skated over to shake Chara’s hand.
“I’ve not seen that ever . . . the other team, after the game, coming over and saying, ‘Can we shake his hand?’ ” coach Barry Trotz said after the Islanders surrendered five third-period goals, with Steven Stamkos notching a hat trick for the Lightning. “That just tells me how much respect this player has garnered throughout the league.”
Finally, Chara — who has not indicated to the Islanders (37-35-10) whether he intends to retire — was on the ice alone after being named the game’s first star. He touched his hand to his heart and saluted the crowd.
“It was completely unexpected,” the 6-9, 250-pound Slovakian said. “It was just an amazing feeling to have that support from the fans. I can’t really describe it. I was getting chills. It was a spectacular moment and I will cherish that for the rest of my life. Amazing.”
If that was the capper to Chara’s 24-year career, which started with the Islanders in 1997, he’ll finish with 209 goals, 471 assists, 2,085 penalty minutes, one Stanley Cup in 2011 as the Bruins’ captain and 1,680 regular-season games played, an NHL record for defensemen.
“I want to go to my family,” Chara said. “I’m going to take some time off. Once I’m going to make a decision, I’ll make it. Right now, I just want to be home and be with my family and just enjoy being home and being a dad. I haven’t made any firm plans.”
He logged 19 minutes, 32 seconds, with two shots on net. But his teammates made it clear they wanted Chara to shoot.
“The guys were giving me the pucks and I was getting some opportunities,” he said. “When you want it really badly, it’s just not happening. And then, toward the end, when you’re shooting for a rebound, it goes in. I guess it was meant to be.”
His teammates’ emotion was visible as he skated to the bench after the goal, and not just because it brought the Islanders within 5-4 after they had blown a two-goal lead in the third period. That emotion carried past the final buzzer, even though the Islanders lost.
“It was great,” Anders Lee said. “It’s a special moment. It says a lot about Z. Everything he’s done in his career. The work he’s put in. He’s one of the greatest leaders that this game has seen.”
Notes & quotes: Defenseman Andy Greene, 39, logged 17:23 with one shot in what likely was his last game before retiring. The former Devils captain has 52 goals and 212 assists in 1,057 career games . . . Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Kieffer Bellows and Josh Bailey, on the power play, also scored for the Islanders . . . Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots for the Lightning . . . Defenseman Sebastian Aho (upper body) was unavailable after taking a boarding minor from the Capitals’ Garnet Hathaway on Thursday . . . Zach Parise was the lone Islander to play all 82 games.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
