Islanders 2: Rangers 4
After the Islanders pulled within one for the second time in the match, John Mitchell capitalized on a questionable decision by Isles head coach Jack Capuano to seal the win for New York, 4-2.
Capuano had elected to pull Evgeni Nabokov with a minute and a half left, before the Islanders had even left the defensive zone, when the puck was turned over. With Nabokov completely out of position, the Rangers upped the tally easily, taking the wind completely out of the Isles' sails.
This was not an easy game to watch. The Rangers struck first, on a shot by Brandon Dubinsky resulting in his first goal in over a month (of course). It took until :18 into the second, on a rebound PA Parenteau cashed in on, to tie it, and then Marian Gaborik (league-leading 20th) scored right off of a faceoff win by Artem Anisimov, darting behind three Islanders to get it past Nabokov. Michael Del Zotto made it 3-1 after collecting a loose puck. Matt Moulson would be the only other Islander to score, continuing the trend of low offense that has hurt this team since the beginning of the season- and with plenty of offensive weapons (not the least of which is John Tavares, who hasn't scored since Dec. 13 in Montreal), it's hard to believe they have a second-worst 72 goals forced (only two goals better than L.A.). It also doesn't help that the power play, which did capitalize on two opportunities, still needs to work on a few things.
As for the rivalry... well, it came out in the third period. Newest member on the "Angie doesn't like you" list? Stu Bickel, who got into it with Matt Martin and then sucker punched Tim Wallace, earning himself a two-minute minor that turned into Moulson's goal. He joins Evander Kane, who had run Al Montoya in the Isles' previous game in Winnipeg, giving him a concussion (hence Nabokov's start). For his part, by the way, Nabokov made 21 saves, though the three goals he allowed had been on the Rangers' first 13 shots. Meanwhile, former Isle and current Rangers backup Martin Biron made 24 of 26 stops to secure the win, continuing his streak of excellence against the Islanders.
Sigh. Well, the good thing about this game is that there's no time to dwell. The Islanders return home to face the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have just defeated the Sabres tonight, 3-2. Toronto's been all over the board as far as I can tell, so who knows what we'll find tomorrow.
Until next time.
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