Moulson NHL's top player of the week
New York Islanders' Matt Moulson looks to pass during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago. (Dec. 2, 2011) Credit: AP
Matt Moulson had six goals in 29 NHL games over two seasons when the Islanders signed him as a free agent before the 2009- 10 season. He had to have an eye-popping camp just to make the team, much less play a key role.
But Moulson made the team and never stopped progressing. He had 30 goals and 18 assists that first season, went 31-22 in 2010-11 and has 13 goals and six assists this season. His goal total ties him for eighth in the league.
Even with John Tavares and P.A. Parenteau presiding, it's probably fair to call the first line the Moulson line. "I don't think many people thought much of it when he signed here," Tavares said Monday. "I know the kind of guy he was, his knack for scoring goals, just getting it done. It's not very pretty stuff you're going to see on the highlights every night, but at the end of the day, he puts them in the net and makes it count."
Moulson had a career-high four goals against Dallas on Saturday and was named the league's first star of the week. It left him somewhat chagrined.
"I don't know, I've never had it before, so I'm not sure," he said of the honor. "I probably owe a lot of it to my linemates, so it was a good week for the team, that's the biggest thing. Johnny and P.A. are playing great. We seem to be working off each other really well out there . . . When you're playing with confidence, it feels like pucks are bouncing to you, you're getting open looks. We just have to keep up and keep working."
Tavares has eight goals and 13 assists. He'll gladly defer the goal-scoring to Moulson at the moment, saying: "Sometimes I feel I should shoot, sometimes I feel I should pass. But I think right now, obviously, I should be passing a little bit more than shooting. He's hot and it's great for our team."
Coach Jack Capuano hopes the success trickles down. "We're a team that needs goals," he said. "We've gotten a lot of goals from that [first] line, so we're going to need secondary scoring for sure."
Notes & quotes: D Andrew MacDonald (leg) and F Jay Pandolfo (broken foot) were put on injured reserve and G Kevin Poulin and F Tim Wallace were recalled from Bridgeport. Wallace had nine goals and 11 assists with the AHL team . . . F Nino Niederreiter (concussion) was scheduled to have further testing. F Michael Grabner (groin) is day-to-day. Capuano said G Rick DiPietro (groin) is being evaluated.
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