MacDonald is playing Isles’ savior
BOSTON – A fixture in the New York Islanders net?
Who would have thought it?
Not even MacDonald himself did, although he had his hopes.
And when incumbent starter Rick DiPietro – he of the 15-year mega million-dollar contract – went down with an early season knee injury, MacDonald stepped into the void.
In the process, the bargain-basement journeyman has proven that you can get a lot of goaltending bang for a mere half-million bucks.
Indeed, MacDonald, who had played just 17 NHL games in seven previous professional campaigns, has been worth far more than the league-minimum $500,000 the Isles are paying him.
“He’s been fantastic for us,” Islanders coach Scott Gordon said. “He’s been what every team’s No. 1 goalie should be.”
He’s been the rookie head coach’s starter since the seventh game of the season, when DiPietro underwent a knee operation and went on the shelf for at least two months. Gordon’s faith in MacDonald has done wonders for his psyche.
Call it a goalie thing.
Gordon, a former NHL netminder himself, knows how to push a goalie’s buttons. Tim Thomas, for example, was a Gordon disciple in Providence, R.I., before he became an NHL All-Star in Boston.
“Flash [Gordon] has been great,” MacDonald said. “He’s given me an opportunity to play every night. That’s all a goaltender asks.”
Counting Saturday’s victory over Ottawa, MacDonald has logged 14 straight starts, recorded eight wins, and stabilized what could have been a dicey situation for the Isles.
“Joey’s given us a chance to win every night,” team captain Bill Guerin said. “That’s all you can ask from your goaltender. He’s played as well as anybody out there. He’s just a great teammate, and works his tail off every day. He deserves a lot of accolades for us being in every game.”
Every game, except for Friday night, during which the red-hot Boston Bruins ripped it open with five goals in the third period en route to a 7-2 victory.
And even that game was within reach until both David Krejci and Blake Wheeler beat MacDonald in one 10-second lightning strike almost seven minutes into the final period.
When MacDonald was pulled by Gordon after Wheeler’s goal, Boston’s fourth, it was for his own well-being and nothing else.
“There was nothing wrong with Joey,” said Gordon. “What I said to him was ‘It wasn’t about you’. It’s about making sure you’re ready for tomorrow [at home against Ottawa]. If he hadn’t been playing as much as he has, I probably would have left him in. Sometimes you’ve got to cut your losses, and if we weren’t going to do anything in front of him, I didn’t want to expose him to something worse.”
Not that the 28-year-old from Nova Scotia hasn’t seen enough hard times.
MacDonald was signed originally by Detroit as an undrafted free agent after wrapping up his junior career with Peterborough in 2001. Unfortunately for him, MacDonald was all but buried in the Red Wings’ farm system for five seasons, four of them in Grand Rapids, Mich.
His path to Detroit was blocked by the likes of Curtis Joseph, Manny Legace, Dominik Hasek and even Marc LaMothe. Remember him? Sure you do.
And even when he did make it to Motown in 2007, it was for just an eight-game stint, one that ended when he was waived, then claimed by Boston for a brief, end-of-season look-see.
“It’s been a long road,” he said. “The East Coast league, and others. I didn’t know if I was going to get the opportunity or not.”
The Bruins had a number of problems to solve in the net and cut loose MacDonald prior to last season.
That’s when the Islanders entered the picture.
He performed creditably last year in Bridgeport, Conn., with their AHL farm club, then claimed the job as DiPietro’s backup with a strong showing in training camp.
Fate intervened when DiPietro got hurt, which put the goaltending burden squarely on MacDonald.
“I put a little more pressure on myself because I knew I was in for the long haul,” he said. “We knew Ricky was going to be out for a little bit. I wanted to come in and play well. Opportunity only comes once in a blue moon. You’ve got to take advantage of it. Things have been going pretty well. We were on a nice stretch [5-2-0 before Thanksgiving], there.”
Such stretches may be rare as the season grinds away.
The Islanders are rebuilding, yet again, and Gordon is still trying to put his stamp on the club.
And then there are the questions about DiPietro’s health, although more accurate answers to those queries are still weeks away.
In the meantime, the Isles may have found themselves more than just a second-string goalie.
“I think [he’s grown],” said Guerin. “I think he expects a lot from himself, now. He doesn’t expect to be backing everybody up [anymore]. Even when Ricky comes back, he’s not just going to accept the backup job. He’s going to battle for it. And that’s a great thing for us. When you’ve got two goalies going for one job, that’s a great thing.”
