It was down to the nitty gritty in a shootout between a couple of bitter New York rivals. Bragging rights was on the line as was the stinkin’ Metro Cup which is presented to the local team with supremacy against their closest two rivals.
For the New York Islanders, that meant a chance to walk away with that nice trophy even if their golf reservations had been booked for some time. Possibly drawing inspiration from a very classy speech by former New York police officer Steven McDonald who presented the Ranger annual Extra Effort Award to rookie pivot Brandon Dubinsky, it was those younger Isles who skated harder and finished every check while finding the back of the net with regularity against Henrik Lundqvist.
Before I get to the game details, if I may for a second point out how well put together McDonald’s speech was. Mr. McDonald is a great example for all of us. Lately, things haven’t quite gone my way and I’ve dealt with a lot of internal issues. However, maybe the next time I’m feeling sorry for myself or anyone else is, we should look at what this true New York hero has to go through everyday being handicapped due to being shot in the line of duty. As I stood there next to my family applauding Mr. McDonald’s speech, my eyes started to well up. This man truly made all those in attendance at Madison Square Garden realize that there’s so much more to appreciate than the teams we root for.
The next time, you go for a walk, run, skate or do whatever this Spring, think of that speech. It really puts so much into proper perspective.
Maybe in some aspects, Ted Nolan’s little club that could was like what McDonald described about the grit and determination that’s on display because it wasn’t as much coming from a much healthier NHL team on Broadway tonight.
Let’s face it. The Islanders have been beaten up for quite a while forced to field an AHL team. The Rangers basically lost to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in that shootout 4-3. Something which wasn’t lost on one of the knowledgable and passionate True Blue fans in my section.
If the Islanders competed harder despite being outshot by a wide misleading margin (51-32), it wasn’t due to lack of effort as co-host Gary Harding’s orange, white and blue wanted it more for some reason. Was it the bad taste of having let a rejuvenated Jaromir Jagr (2 goals last night, 1-1-2 tonight) along with Lundqvist (25 saves for NHL best 10th shutout) wrap up a third straight postseason appearance the previous night on their home ice over by the Meadowbrook Parkway? Probably.
The one aspect of this rivalry which makes it one of the best is that no matter who are wearing those jerseys, there’s no such thing as a game being a virtual lock for the other due to talent. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, talent doesn’t always win hockey games. Especially ones played at the highest level with passion exhibited during each shift the way it always should during this fun time of year.
It was that sort of attitude from young guns such as Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau along with pesky shorthanded specialist Richard Park which allowed the Islanders to not only come out with the extra point but also insure themselves of that nice mug. Maybe it doesn’t mean a whole lot but the pride they showed was why they’ve fared so well against both the Blueshirts and Devils this season edging the Rangers for that trophy.
“We always hear that there is nothing to play for. I strongly disagree with that,” Nolan later pointed out of how hard his lesser experienced club fought to send most Ranger fans with a sour taste in their mouths. Anytime you lose to that team, that’s how it is. Besides, Lundqvist was flat out PATH-ETT-IC in that shootout. Apparently, he forgot to take his B-12 as he also let in a couple of klunkers during regulation.
“We always have something to play for. … To just go through the motions isn’t the right thing to do, and we never did that, which is a great thing.”
I definitely have to concur with Nolan. There was his team still competing. They even were out on the bench for the pregame ceremony. A very classy move on their part and one which was a good lesson for their younger players getting valuable experience now.
Despite having a chance to get a win and tie the Devils, who got absolutely handled by a desperate Flyer club 3-0 in a game which was never close, the Rangers just couldn’t seem to get up for this one quite the way they would’ve liked.
Maybe that’s because like Jagr alluded to later that there really aren’t any weak teams left. So, if it’s the Devils in that first round, that’s a given. Or if the Bruins win later today against Buffalo and New Jersey finally figures out Lundqvist in regulation, then it will be either Carolina or Washington. With the Candy Canes somehow losing at home 4-3 to the Panthers despite nine power plays to none for their opponents (they did outshoot Fla 46-17), I’m betting the house on the Caps as there’s no chance Alexander Ovechkin will let his team miss at in the regular season home finale against those same Panthers.
I said two weeks prior that the Capitals were running the table. They now know that one point will be good enough to wrap up the Southeast and the No.3 seed plus the home ice which comes with it. By show of hands, who thinks they won’t at least get it to overtime?
The Isles went ahead on Okposo’s second NHL goal off a brilliant passing play with a nifty Comeau backhand setting up the former 2006 No.1 pick in the slot from 20 feet out. He didn’t miss giving his team a one-goal lead which they held thru 20 minutes.
Ranger defenseman Dan Girardi drew the MSG hosts even just 2:29 into the second setup off a three-on-two rush by Jagr and Marty Straka. He walked in and beat Wade Dubielewicz upstairs for his 10th. Not a bad output for the solid stay-at-home smooth skating defender who logs big minutes and can play in any situation.
Then, Lundqvist fell asleep on the Isles’ second goal, giftwrapping an easy rebound off the stick of rookie Jack Hillen right to Ranger killer Miroslav Satan, who deposited the loose change to hike his embarrassing goal total to 16. How’s that even possible? Can you say deported back to Slovakia this summer? I sure as hell can. In case you were wondering, no player has scored more goals against the Rangers since 1997-98 than Satan. I believe that’s now 25 dating back to his Buffalo days when he netted his first career hat trick.
Another odd goal allowed the Blueshirts to tie it for the second time 7:30 later thanks to a seeing eye shot from the top of the left circle by improving rookie Nigel Dawes. He got the puck from linemates Ryan Callahan and Chris Drury and just fired. It seemed to go off someone in front and get a piece of Dubielewicz before finding its way into the back of the net for his 14th to level it at two with 6:50 left in the middle stanza.
The game wouldn’t stay knotted for long. Somehow, the Isles were charged with two penalties giving the Rangers a full two-minute 5-on-3 advantage to work with. Given that they’d finally come in hot having scored seven times the past few games, you had to figure they’d at least net one and go ahead.
However, that’s not what transpired. After a TV timeout, they somehow managed to let Park get free off a faceoff. The speedy much overlooked pivot who once was a folkhero during the Wild’s run to the Western Conference Final was sprung by defenseman Radek Martinek. He made his move and floated a tricky wrister which Lundqvist got a piece of but not enough of as it trickled into the net for his fourth shorthanded tally of the season. It was only the third such instance this season a player had scored during a 3-on-5. Come to think of it, I think Park might’ve also turned the trick in a road game at Philly. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
Just awful! How could the Rangers allow that? They did have five forwards out there. Of course, Renney sent the same experienced guys back out after it and they failed miserably. Overally, they took a collar in eight chances which is where the game was lost.
Why didn’t the coach pull them off the ice and send out a Dawes or Callahan? That’s what I would’ve done. If you allow an opponent (especially one as hated as the Isles) to score down two men, you don’t deserve to play the rest of the power play. Have a seat on the bench!
The Rangers still managed to tie it up thanks to a nifty give-and-go with Jagr being setup for his 24th from perfect complement Straka off a two-on-one 4:24 into the third. Ryan Hollweg got maybe the cheapest secondary assist ever. He totally sucked during that shift in his own end almost allowing the Isles to score. God is he sloooow. I sure hope he’s not dressed for the playoffs. He makes Colton Orr look like the Road Runner.
In spite of a 31-17 SOG edge in the final 40 of regulation, the game required OT due to the Ranger ineptitude on the PP. It was during the four-on-four by which time I’d gone downstairs to listen to the game in Gerry Cosby’s that Ranger color analyst Dave Maloney absolutely trashed Bill McCreary’s soft hook on Scott Gomez with 107 seconds left which gave the Isles a 4-on-3. Must’ve been one of those Bettman specials because he really disliked the call. They don’t call it the BHL up in 411 for nothing. 
The Rangers killed it off due mostly to outstanding penalty kill work from who else but team leader Drury. The guy just always is in the proper position. Even from the radio, you can tell when it’s going to be cleared. He’s that good. Or to quote legendary Sabre play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret of who I’ll miss this Spring:
“Scaaa—-rrryyyy goooooodd!!!!”
The game and Metro-Cup went to a skill competition. In it, Okposo and Comeau absolutely abused Lundqvist who just never looked balanced tonight. I sure hope it was his bad game because this is no time to hit a slump.
The Isles had what seemed like an insurmountable 2-0 lead but the Rangers’ money shooter Dawes made Dubielewicz look flat out bad going to the backhand to slice it to 2-1. After Sean Bergenheim lost control of the puck making it a routine stop for Lundqvist, Renney turned to Fredrik Sjostrom. Yes. That guy. And the speedy underused fourth liner (could someone please explain why he’s not used more- God sometimes our coach is just dumb) delivered with a textbook forehand deke tucking the puck in to suddenly tie it 2-2.
The Rangers surely were going to pull this off now! Right? Wrong! Lundqvist earlier had given up a softie to Park Well, Park’s winner was even worse going through him. Ugh. That was just ugly.
So, who did Renney send out to try to tie it? Jagr who’s been hot lately? Drury? Callahan? Straka? How about the ice cold Petr Prucha, who now fumbles the puck like he’s Chad Pennington on the run. No surprise that his way too fancy array of moves was snuffed out by Dubielewicz to give the harder working team points 78 and 79 concluding their season.
They can smile a little because they didn’t mail it in like doormats Tampa Bay and Atlanta. Instead, a Nolan coached club made teams sweat it out playing their asses off.
Kudos to them. They made their fans proud. We might not have an Islander blogger at present but it was easy even for this diehard Ranger fan and blogger extraordinaire to appreciate the effort put forth by that hated rival.
Said Islander hero Park:
“It’s always nice to win, but I don’t think it overshadows the fact that there is a lot of disappointment and sadness in our locker room. We had really high expectations throughout the whole year. It’s a little bit of a Band-Aid over the wound, but the hurt is still there.”
That might be true but hey. They were bruised and battered. Who thinks they wouldn’t have been right there in the thick of this race if they weren’t healthier?
Even if you do dislike them, try answering that with a straight face. Sometimes, the truth can hurt.
On this night, the Islanders were better and got the deserved breaks.
For the Rangers, here are the scenarios:
A.A regulation win at New Jersey tomorrow gives them the No.4 seed and home ice against those same Devils, who truly are their mirror image.
B.An OT or shootout loss gives them 97 points making them the No.5 seed, allowing the Devils to have home ice in the Battle for the Hudson.
C.A Bruins’ win tonight versus the Sabres and a Devil regulation win tomorrow would tie Boston with the Rangers at 96 points and 42 wins apiece. The tiebreaker would then belong to Boston due to head-to-head as they earned 5 points to the Rangers’ 4. Something I actually was nice enough to call into Steve Somers’ producer last night and inform him because his update guy assumed Rangers-Devils was happening.
Like seriously. I should be working for them.
And with that, I’ve said plenty for one night. See ya’ll later! 
