"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair..." The famous quote from Charles Dickens' masterful "A Tale of Two Cities" is a great description of the two New York hockey teams and their respective states. The New York Rangers have finally started to look like Stanley Cup contenders and are riding a three-game winning streak. Meanwhile the New York Islanders are having a nightmare five-game losing streak that is reminiscent of past season swoons. The Islanders look to end their losing streak they visit the New York Rangers on Thursday night for the second straight week. .
During the last three seasons, the New York Islanders have suffered poor losing streaks in the second month of the season. In 2011-12 the team got off to a 3-1-0 start but dropped to 3-4-2 by the end of October. In November, the team went 4-7-2 and faced an uphill climb for the remainder of the year. In 2010-11, the team got off to a 4-1-2 start but followed up the strong start with a 14-game losing streak that cost head Coach Scott Gordon his job. Fast forward to 2013 and the Islanders are facing a similar circumstance. After a 4-2-1 start, the team has dropped five straight. In the latest victory, New York held a 3-2 lead heading into the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes. However, a few unlucky bounces put the Islanders behind and ultimately cost them the game. Despite the loss, Coach Jack Capuano felt that the players continued to deliver solid efforts.
"We got pucks to the net tonight," Capuano said. "On those first couple goals, our players realized what we had to do. We generated some shots and we had some traffic and that's the way you score goals. I thought they did a good job as far as that goes."
New York goalie Rick DiPIetro got his second start of the season and allowed five goals in the effort and was booed by fans. Despite the performance, DiPietro seemed content to get a chance to play.
"I felt good. It's a joy to be out there playing, to be honest. Sitting around, watching these guys from the rafters last year, the last couple years, there's nothing you can do," said DiPietro after the loss. "You feel helpless. It's nice to compete and this is a great group of guys."
Meanwhile the New York Rangers are coming off a huge win over the Boston Bruins. The team held a 3-0 lead early in the third thanks to goals from Carl Hagelin, Derek Stepan, and Anton Stralman. However, the Bruins battled back and earned two goals in the final two minutes of play. The Rangers eventually found a way to win it in the shootout.
"We have to learn from it," said Captain Ryan Callahan after the victory. "We have to play harder in third periods with the lead in away buildings. We have to realize that, but at the same time we showed some character not giving up and not folding the tent in overtime. I thought we came back and we had a good overtime. At the end of the day, we find a way to get two points in a tough place to play."
The win gives the Rangers a 7-5 record and third place in the Atlantic Division.
These teams met last Thursday when JT Miller scored his first two NHL goals in a 4-1 Ranger win. Islanders' superstar John Tavares scored the lone goal for the Islanders.
Predictions: The Islanders salvage a point but lose 3-2 in overtime.
Start: 7 PM EST
TV: MSG PLUS, MSG