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| Islanders celebrate after 1st period goal (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) |
In front of a sellout crowd, the New York Islanders picked up two big points with a shootout win over the New York Rangers 4-3.
It was the fifth meeting between the big city rivals. Previously, the Rangers had the Isles' number, winning three of the first four meetings.
Evgeni Nabokov returned between the pipes for the Isles, after missing the last three games because of the flu. He faced off against the Rangers backup net minder Marty Biron.
It was also the NHL debut for call up Casey Cizikas. He admitted being nervous coming into the game, but proved to be a very solid player. He crashed the boards well, and his teammates were impressed with how strong he was with the puck. Cizikas finished with 11:33 of ice time two hits and a blocked shot.
The game lived up to the hype, as it was a very physical battle from the opening faceoff.
The Islanders would get the upper hand quickly though. Just 6:07 into the game Matt Moulson took a beautiful pass from behind the net by John Tavares, and buried it behind Biron. It was Moulson's twenty sixth of the season. The Islanders would add another one two minutes and thirty-five seconds later when P.A. Parenteau blasted a slap shot over the right shoulder of Biron to make it 2-0 Isles. The Rangers would answer back at the 12:47 mark when, on the power play, Marc Staal snuck one by the blocker of Nabokov to make it 2-1.
The second period would see the Islanders increase their lead yet again when at the 8:11 mark Parenteau would get his second goal sneaking a backhander five-hole on Biron. Parenteau now has fourteen goals on the season. The Rangers would answer just three minutes and thirty-eight seconds later when Marion Gaborik found himself on a breakaway and buried a backhander past Nabokov, for his twenty-eighth goal of the campaign. With just 3:20 left in regulation the Rangers caught a huge break as a Derek Stepan shot was stopped by Nabokov, but then went in off of Islander defenseman Travis Hamonic. That tied the game at three and sent it into overtime.
The overtime period saw no scoring so the game went into a shootout.
Rangers head coach John Tortorella sent out Gaborik, Ryan Callahan, and Brad Richards against Nabokov. Islander head coach Jack Capuano countered with Frans Nielsen, Tavares and Parenteau against Biron.
Nielsen and Gaborik would each score and make it 1-1 after the first round. Tavares was next and clanked one off the left post giving the Rangers the advantage. Nabokov would ease the Islanders minds when he poke checked the puck away from Callahan's stick and kept it tied going into the third round. Parenteau tried to give the Isles the upper hand but could not get one by Biron's glove. With the game on the line Nabokov came up huge when he stopped Richards, who put on a bevy of moves but couldn't bury his backhand. In sudden death Capuano called on Moulson, the teams leading goal scorer. Moulson made Capuano look good as he buried his wrist shot past the stick side of Biron. Needing to make a save to win it Nabokov faced John Mitchell. Mitchell tried to go five-hole but Nabokov closed his legs in time and the Islanders got the win, and more importantly the extra point.
The Islanders now sit six points out of the playoffs with twenty-one games left to play. They next take a trip to Ottawa for a battle against the Senators, Sunday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 5 PM.
