Rivalry Renewed: Rangers vs Islanders

Last night was a  night where you better have brought some towels if you were going out to the Nassau Coliseum to witness the cross-town match up between the Rangers and Islanders. And, that really isn’t meant for the amount of fights that will go on between the teams during the game.  I mean, if you were there, I hope you had a towel ready for all the fights that happened in the stands. You most likely got some beer and blood on you that would of needed some wiping away.  Like the tears Rangers fans were crying with the final buzzer as the Islanders skated away with a 3-1 victory.

Although, during the Olympic break the two head coaches for their respected clubs will be assistants to Ron Wilson for Team USA, last was nothing about friendships, partnerships, relationships, cruise ships or any kind of ship.  It’s about the hatred between the two clubs that both do battle from the Big Apple.

The New York Rangers have the lead in this long time rivalry: 105-95-19-4. Last night, the Islanders added a loss to that stat going from “only” 94 to 95 losses all-time.  Unfortunately, sniper Marian Gaborik was out of the line up for the Blueshirts last night.  How much of an issue that will be heading into the game against Minnesota for the Rangers is yet to be seen.

As for the Islanders, no matter how bad or good the team may seem on black and white, they always play the Rangers as if it was a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals. The intensity brought to the ice during Rangers – Islanders games is almost unbelievable.

Kyle Okposo was a man on fire last night.  He was skating like the wind, hitting everything in sight, and had great puck presence. Dwayne Roloson stole the show, even if the Rangers hit 4 posts; as coach Gordon Bombay’s good friend “Hans” said to him during his reminiscing period in the movie “The Mighty Ducks”: “A 1/4 of an inch more to either side of the posts and the shot goes wide”.  The posts are the goaltenders best friend, and last night they were more than that for “Rollie”.

However, you have to give credit where credit is due and the Islanders deserve all the credit in the world for the way they showed up and outplayed the New York Rangers last night.  The Islanders played a full sixty minute game from start to finish. They showed hunger in almost every shift, knowing that this game was more then just them looking for their first regulation victory of the season.  It was a moral victory for the entire organization. Two points in the win category, and infinite points in the hearts of the Islanders, their organization and their fan base world wide.

Quick Hits:

Matt Moulson has been quite the pick up for the Islanders.  Playing shotgun quite often with Tavares and having Okposo along side has given the winger 10 points in 11 games (6 goals 4 assists) and an Even +/- thus far.

Dwayne Roloson is 2-1-3 with a 2.96 Goals Against and a .906 save percentage this year.  He has been a bright spot for the Islanders early on.

John Tavares rookie campaign is off to a great start.  In 11 games Tavares has 8 points (4 goals and 4 assists).