By Eric Hornick
Game 2
Islanders 6, Rangers 4
Never Say Die-Landers
PA Parenteau and Blake Comeau scored power play goals 58 seconds apart in the
final five minutes of the game as the Isles rallied from 3-2 and 4-3 deficits to
defeat the Rangers 6-4 in front of 11,748 at a Columbus Day matinee at the
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Round 1
The game featured a very entertaining fight between Zenon Konopka and Brandon
Prust eight minutes into play. Konopka led the NHL with 33 fights a season
ago, while Prust was tied for second with 25.
DP Stops Gaborik
With the game scoreless mid-way through the first period, Marian Gaborik was
hooked by Doug Weight during an Islander power play setting up a penalty shot.
Rick DiPietro stood tall in the nets, raising his career mark to eight saves on
ten career penalty shots. It was one of 29 saves for DiPietro, who defeated the
Rangers for the first time since November 19, 2007.
It's only the third penalty shot the Rangers have ever had against the Isles
–all have occurred in games at the Coliseum. Chico Resch stopped Don Murdoch in
1978; Martin Straka scored against DiPietro on February 2, 2006.
The Kids are Alright
The Isles took a 2-1 lead after one period as Blake Comeau and Josh Bailey beat
Henrik Lundqvist, sandwiched around a Brandon Dubinsky goal for the Rangers.
A Ranger Period, until…
The Rangers had the better of the play for most of the middle period, and scored
twice. Michael Del Zotto scored on a Ranger power play and Dan Girardi's blue
line blast gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead just six seconds after the Isles killed a
penalty.
It looked like the Rangers would take a lead into the dressing room, but Matt
Moulson pushed one through Lundqvist with just 21 seconds to play to even the
game. Moulson has now scored in five straight games, including the final three
games of last season. (No Islander had a 5-game goal streak last season; Moulson
had a 4-game streak.)
Rangers Grab Lead
The Rangers grabbed the lead at 12:46 of the third on an Artem Anisimov goal,
but they couldn't hold it.
Power Display
Less than 90 seconds after the Ranger goal, the Isles went to the power play on
a Ryan Callahan tripping penalty. When Mark Staal joined him 46 seconds later,
the Isles went on a 5-on-3 power play. For the second straight game, the Isles
capitalized on a 5-on-3 as ex-Ranger PA Parenteau tied the game. Comeau and
Bailey then went to work, with Comeau finishing to give the Isles a 5-4 lead
with 3:26 to play. The Rangers pressed in the final minutes, but Frans Nielsen
hit the empty net with 19 seconds to play. 6-4 Final.
Two for Forever
The Isles had been 2 for their last 52 on the power play against the Rangers
before getting the two key pp goals in the third period. It's the first time
since 2006 that the Isles have had a two power play goal game against the
Rangers.
Do You Remember Terry Simpson?
The Isles finished 2-5 on the power play and are 5-13 (38.5%) in their first two
games. It's the first time since October 8-10, 1987 that the Isles have scored
five power play goals in their first two games. Brett Sutter had 2 of the power
play goals in that stretch; Gord Dineen, Mikko Makela and Bob Bassen had the
others as the Isles opened with wins in Los Angeles and Vancouver. The Isles
finished that season in first place in the Patrick Division.
Lots of Goals
The Isles have scored 10 goals and were only the second team to reach that total
this season. (The Rangers a few minutes earlier were the first) It's also the
first time since 1987 that the Isles have scored ten or more goals in the first
two games.
Comeau Owns the Rangers
Blake Comeau continues his strong play against the Rangers. He now has
consecutive 2-goal games against the Blueshirts and as totaled 7 goals and 4
assists in his last eight games against the Rangers. Nine of his 35 career
goals (and two of his five multi-goal games) have come against the
Manhattanites. Blake finished last season with a flourish (7 points in the last
4 games he played) and has started this season the same way (4 points in 2
games). Comeau's three points and +3 rating today both matched career highs.
Put the Kid to Work
Islander first round draft pick Nino Niederreiter recorded one shot on goal, a
team-leading five hits and 3 takeaways in 14:48 of ice-time.
Get Well John!
John Tavares missed a game for the first time in his NHL career. Moulson is now
the only Islander to play in all 84 games over the past 1+ seasons. Michael
Grabner played 13:12 as he made his Islander debut.
Don't Forget Me
Mark Eaton was a +3, marking the 10th time in his career that he has had at
least a +3 rating.
Fine Thirds
The Isles have outscored their opponents 5-2 in the third period, and have
outshot them 35-13.
Six Pack
The Isles scored six goals against the Rangers at the Coliseum for the first
time since a 6-4 win on November 27, 1993. They had scored at least six against
the Rangers twice since then – led by an Alexei Yashin hat trick in 2002 and a
Viktor Kozlov 4-goal game on December 3, 2006.
3 in 2
The Isles improve to 1-0-1 in their first two games. It's only the second time
in the last eight 8 seasons (2-0-0 three seasons ago) that the Isles have earned
at least 3 points in their first two games.
Off to the Road
After Monday's game, the Isles will play 12 of the next 15 on the road. Their
three home games in that stretch are on October 16, October 29 and November 6.
Season Series Stats
This was the first of six meetings on the season and the Islanders now lead the
series 1 game to none. The rivals will not meet again until a home-and home
series on December 2nd-3rd.
Up Next
Wednesday, October 13 – Islanders @ Washington Capitals 7:00PM
[Versus, WRHU 88.7FM]
The Isles will be exposed to a national television audience as they begin a
difficult two-game road trip in Washington against the Capitals.
The Isles are 4-4-4 over the last three seasons against the Caps, who have
accumulated 323 points in winning the Southeast Division in all three seasons.
Last season, three of the four games went to overtime, with the Isles compiling
a 1-2-1 record.
The Isles have had success recently in our Nation's Capital, going 6-3-2 in
their last 11 visits, dating back to December, 2003.
This is the only game all season that fans in the metro-NY area will not find on
MSG+/MSG+2. Versus has the telecast. Chris King will have Islander radio
coverage on WRHU.
Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since
1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various
sources.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home
telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on
Twitter @ehornick
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