Tonight, your New York Islanders face the New
York Rangers at the NVMC before a sellout crowd. The Islanders are 3-0-0 against them this
season by 3 goals per game (6-3, 3-0, and 4-1) and lead them by 4 points in the
metro division, so it is another huge “4 pt” game against a motivated, major
rival close behind the Isles in the standings.
The Rangers are 19-1-2 if they lead after the first period, so a quick
start by the Islanders may prove useful and help them extend their winning
streak to five games.
Forwards:
Lee-Tavares-Bailey,
Grabovski-Nielsen-Strome, Kulemin-Nelson-Clutterbuck, Martin-Cizikas-McDonald.
Defensive pairings: Leddy-Boychuk, Strait-Hamonic, Hickey-Visnovsky.
Jaroslav Halak is in goal with Chad Johnson
on the bench.
It only took John Tavares just 11 seconds to
make it 1-0 Islanders off a Cam Talbot miscue.
The Rangers respond with several shots on the Isles net, but Jaroslav Halak
equal to the task. Bailey hits the
crossbar behind Talbot. Nelson draws the
hooking call (Stepan) and the Isles go to the PP, generate pressure, but fail
to score. Colin McDonald comes close on
a turnover in the slot, but Talbot makes the save. Halak and his defense with a couple of
miscues, but he makes the stops necessary.
Frans Nielsen (Hamonic & Grabovski) puts in A Travis Hamonic rebound
for a 2-0 Isles lead. Casey Cizikas can’t
convert on the breakaway. Potential game
buster for the Isles there. The
Islanders have been relentless so far in the period. The Rangers work the puck in the Islanders
zone & McDonagh puts one past Halak through traffic to make it 2-1
Islanders. Isles dominate the first period and outshoot Rangers
22-11, but only lead 2-1. They need a better effort against a very good and
very bitter team in the second to gain back the momentum.
Less than 2 minutes into
the second period, Johnny Boychuk one times a Rangers clearing attempt at the blue
line to make the score 3-1. Just when all looked well in Uniondale, Halak lets
up a soft one from Kreider, 3-2. And just
22 seconds later, Visnovsky accidentally tries to block the shot and
accidentally deflects the puck past Halak.
Suddenly, the game is tied at 3-3.
Martin and Glass off for unsportsmanlike conduct minors. 4 on 4 for two minutes. Stepan called for tripping on Hickey, Isles
to the PP. Nick Leddy leaves the game
for the locker room after taking a puck to the face. Travis Hamonic puts a shot on net as the PP
expires and Ryan Strome (Nelson & Hamonic) jams in the rebound to make it
4-3 Islanders. Islanders with a 32-17
shots advantage by the halfway mark of the game, but only lead by one. Nick Leddy returns to the bench wearing a
full face shield with a huge welt on his face.
Lubo Visnovsky pulls out a miracle to break up a Hayes & Miller 2 on
1. Rangers called for too many men,
Isles to the PP. Rangers very aggressive
on the PK and the Isles unable to generate much pressure. Strait with a terrible play on Miller. He is called for interference, Isles to the
PK. Halak makes a couple of big saves on
the PK. Lubo Visnovsky somehow negates a
rush by Kreider. He has had a strong
game thus far. Travis Hamonic called for
tripping on Zuccarello, Isles to the PK with seconds remaining in the period. The Islanders lead in shots 15-11 for the
period. Arthur Staple mentions, “Every
Isles player with at least one SOG tonight through two periods. Tavares/Boychuk/Strome/McDonald
each with 4.”
The Isles on the PK for
the first 1:50 on the third period. Jaroslav Halak comes up big again for the
Islanders on the Kill. Ryan Strome (Nielsen)
gets his 2nd of the night and makes it his first multi-point game of
his career off a Boyle turn over. Its
5-3 Islanders. Stepan with a one-timer
to make pull within one, 5-4 Islanders. Shots are 10-1 Rangers with 7 minutes
remaining in the period. Score is tied
at 5-5 off a nice Stepan to St. Louis top shelf goal thanks to a Kreider trip
on Johnny Boychuk. No call on the
ice. Credit the Rangers for outshooting
the Islanders 13-3 at this point. The non-call
aside, that’s the real reason for the comeback. Klein gives the Rangers a 6-5 lead with under
5 minutes remaining. Halak (35 of 41
with an .854Sv%) goes to the bench, Josh Bailey hits the goal post and the
Rangers beat the Islanders for the first time this season, winning 6-5 in an
exciting metro division clash. Shots
favored the Rangers 18-5 in the third and finished up at 42-42 in the game. Isles were 0/3 on the PP and 2/2 on the PK.
Hamonic, Strome,
Visnovsky & Nielsen had great games for the Islanders. The Isles had put up a great effort and controlled
a good Rangers team for much of the contest, but couldn’t close it out early in
the game. Their defense was way too soft
in the 3rd period, they made too many mistakes and that led to too
many shots against once again. After
they no longer dictated the pace of the game, they were overwhelmed by the constant
Rangers pressure in deep. That caused
them to blow three, two goal leads in a tight, but very winnable game. Credit the Rangers for outplaying the Isles
when it mattered most and getting 6 goals against this team, but its only one
loss.
It wasn’t on Strait, but
Capuano needs to put de Haan back in the lineup and let the bad taste of this
one sink in tonight. Capuano mentioned
Chad Johnson could be in net for tomorrow as well. The streak ends at 4. The Islanders should respond tomorrow night in
Carolina.
Isles Notes:
Matt Carkner has cleared
waivers and has been loaned to the BST.
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