Rangers Take First of Home and Home
By Dalton Scantling on December 6, 2010 at 11:08 pm in Featured, Islanders, Rangers
The battle of New York started Thursday Night in a home and home setup between the Rangers and Islanders. Thursday night’s game was played at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the home of the Islanders. The Islanders took the first game of the six game regular season series 6-4 in their own building.
The second game of the series had a similar offensive outburst, but a different outcome. The Rangers took the lead in the first period on a snap shot from Erik Christensen 8:11 into the opening frame. The goal was assisted by Sean Avery and Marian Gaborik. The Bluecoats added a second goal 17:07 into the first on a Ryan Callahan tip-in. The Islanders got on the score sheet on a Zenon Konopka tip-in with 48.6 seconds left in the period. The Islanders actually out-shot the Rangers 10-9, but the scoreboard showed otherwise.
The Islanders took control to start the second period. Matt Moulson got the scoring started on a wrist shot 9:18 into the period. Just a few minutes later Rob Schremp scored on a slap shot to give the Islanders their first lead of the game. The lead was very short lived as the Rangers tied the game up less than a minute later. Brandon Prust scored on a wrister to knot the score up at three with 6:39 left in the second. A few minutes later the Rangers capitalized on the momentum swing when Marian Gaborik scored on a wrist shot on the power play. The Rangers carried their 4-3 lead into the third period.
Marian Gaborik gave the Rangers a two goal cushion when he scored on another wrister just 3:31 into the third period. That did not cause the Islanders to give up on the game. Michael Grabner scored on a tip-in 12:29 into the final frame to bring the deficit back to one goal. Shortly after than goal, Blake Comeau scored on a wrist shot to tie the game at five. The tie lasted all of 25 seconds before the Rangers crushed the crowd and the Islanders’ momentum on Marian Gaborik’s third goal of the game. The goal ended up being the final goal of the game as the final score tallied Rangers 6, Islanders 5.
The Rangers weren’t the happiest after the win, but they were glad to be able to pull out an ugly win on the road.
“I guess that’s just what happens in this building,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “Earlier this year, we were on the losing end, so trying to take a positive out of it, we won a game.”
The Rangers changed the lines up before the game, and moved Sean Avery and Marian Gaborik to the same line. Gaborik recorded four points(3 goals, 1 assist) and Avery recorded three points(3 assists). After the game Avery was asked about Gaborik’s presence on the ice.
“He just creates the play so well and he gets open. When he gets open it’s easy to get him the puck,” Avery said about Gaborik. “The guy is one of the best goal scorers in the world. It’s certainly a fun thing to get to play with him.”
The Islanders were very frustrated with their play. One of the more vocal players was center John Tavares.
“There are no excuses,” Tavares said. “There are too many lapses right now and it’s costing us.”
Related posts:
