One of the greatest rivalries in hockey will be renewed on Thursday night when the New York Islanders head to the Madison Square Garden to play the New York Rangers.
It has been a long time since these two teams have been comparable. The NY Islanders (4-4-1) have been one of the worst teams in the league for the last few years while the Rangers (4-5-0) have been one of the top in the NHL. The Rangers were the top team in the Eastern Conference a year ago but have not looked it in the early going. With just four wins in nine games, the Rangers are currently sitting out six behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for division lead. The Rangers are coming off a 3-1 loss to the NJ Devils in which their offense was effectively shut down. The power play was the biggest culprit and went 0-5.
"You know my answer and I'm not going to go through it here," Rangers coach John Tortorella said regarding his team's play on the man advantage. "We're the better team 5-on-5 [Tuesday night]; it was the special teams that let us down.
The Islanders' special teams have let them down as well. The Islanders have gone 0-14 in two straight games on the power play. Despite dominating the Devils on Sunday and Penguins on Tuesday, the Islanders were unable to score a single power play goal and wound up losing both games. The Penguins loss was all the more painful because the Islanders managed to score two goals in 35 seconds after falling behind 3-0.
"We had a lot of chances and Fleury made some really good saves -- you have to give him credit -- but at the end of the day, we have to score on the power play" said Islanders captain Mark Streit. "We have five great players on the ice and need to be better."
The Islanders' John Tavares has 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in 17 career games against the Rangers. Rangers Goalie Henrik Lundqvist 24 wins, 11 losses, and five overtime losses with a 2.18 goals against average, 92 save percentage, and four shutouts in his career against the Islanders.
Previous Meetings: This is the first of four games between the two sides. The Rangers won four of the six meeting s last season.
Predictions: The Islanders have lost two straight but have dominated both matches. John Tavares loves playing the Rangers and is on a two game pointless streak. He will shine and the Islanders will beat the Rangers 3-1.
Start Time: 7 PM EST
TV: MSG PLUS 2, MSG