Goalies who scored

Cam Ward became the 10th NHL goalie to be credited with a goal, thanks in no small part to Ilya Kovalchuk.  The ten have combined for 12 goals, with Martin Brodeur and Ron Hextall each doing it twice.  The complete list (from wikipedia) is below:

Name	Nationality	Team	Season	Date	Opposing team	Final score	Notes
Billy Smith	CAN	New York Islanders	1979–80	November 28, 1979	Colorado Rockies	4–7	OG
Ron Hextall	CAN	Philadelphia Flyers	1987–88	December 8, 1987	Boston Bruins	5–2	SOG
Ron Hextall	CAN	Philadelphia Flyers	1988–89	April 11, 1989	Washington Capitals	8–5	SOG, SHG
Chris Osgood	CAN	Detroit Red Wings	1995–96	March 6, 1996	Hartford Whalers	4–2	SOG
Martin Brodeur	CAN	New Jersey Devils	1996–97	April 17, 1997	Montreal Canadiens	5–2	SOG
Damian Rhodes	USA	Ottawa Senators	1998–99	January 2, 1999	New Jersey Devils	6–0	OG
Martin Brodeur	CAN	New Jersey Devils	1999–2000	February 15, 2000	Philadelphia Flyers	4–2	OG, GWG
Jose Theodore	CAN	Montreal Canadiens	2000–01	January 2, 2001	New York Islanders	3–0	SOG
Evgeni Nabokov	RUS  KAZ	San Jose Sharks	2001–02	March 10, 2002	Vancouver Canucks	7–4	SOG, PPG
Mika Noronen	FIN	Buffalo Sabres	2003–04	February 14, 2004	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–4	OG
Chris Mason	CAN	Nashville Predators	2005–06	April 15, 2006	Phoenix Coyotes	5–1	OG
Cam Ward	CAN	Carolina Hurricanes	2011–12	December 26, 2011	New Jersey Devils	4–2	OG

 
What's amazing is how many have had a connection with the Isles.
Billy Smith is (of course) the only Islander goalie to be credited with a goal.
Jose Theodore's goal was an empty netter against the Isles.
Ron Hextall, Chris Osgood and Evgeni Nabokov all scored and later played for the Isles.   (Nabokov currently has 1 fewer career win than Osgood)
While Damian Rhodes was technically never an Islander, he was part of the trade that brought Bryan Berard to Long Island and sent Wade Redden to Ottawa. (Rhodes went from Toronto to Ottawa)

Ward already has his name scattered through the Isles' record book, as he is 14-2-1 against the Isles (including 5-0-0 in the last 5, 9-0-1 in the last 10 and 14-1-1 since losing his third NHL start to the Islanders in 2005..  Two games particularly come to mind: On October 25, 2008 the Isles fired a club record 60 shots at Ward, but fell 4-3 when Ward stopped Doug Weight on a penalty shot with 7/10th of a second remaining in the third.  Late that season, in Carolina, Ward beat the Isles 9-0 -- the most one-sided loss (and shutout) in club history.

Perhaps, Ward will someday follow the path of several of the other scoring goalies and eventually play for the Isles.  Ward by the way will celebrate his 7th birthday on February 29th (you'll refer to him as being 28), meaning that he was born on February 29, 1984-  the day Pat Lafontaine and Patrick Flatley debuted for the Islanders in a game in Winnipeg.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick