(AP) — Peter Mannino made 40 saves in his first NHL start and defenseman Mark Streit had two power-play goals and an assist, leading the New York Islanders to a 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
"I couldn’t ask for anything better," said Mannino, who was making the second appearance of his NHL career. "That’s the dream come true: to get a start in the NHL and to get a win on the first one with a lot of shots like that. It’s picture perfect.
"I felt good right away," he said. "Chicago is an unbelievable offensive team; I wanted to get out the nerves as much as possible and stay focused. When you get a lot of shots, it helps, especially if you’re not letting them in right away."
Richard Park and Frans Nielsen also scored for the Islanders, 6-2-1 in their last nine games despite being last in the Eastern Conference. New York went 3-for-7 on the power play.
Mannino, 13-11-2 in 27 appearances as a rookie with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers this season, was impressive as Chicago dominated and outshot the Islanders, 42-19. He stopped Martin Havlat, Ben Eager and Patrick Kane on partial breakaways.
Mannino made his NHL debut in November, playing 13 minutes in relief of Joey MacDonald in a 7-2 loss at Boston. On Sunday, MacDonald missed his third straight game with a knee injury he sustained Tuesday in Toronto. Mannino was backed up by Yann Danis.
"I told myself earlier I just wanted to be composed," said Mannino. "I kind of kept that in my mind right from the beginning, and it went well."