Even lowly Isles rule King, Garden
ISLES 5 RANGERS 3
A BROKEN Henrik Lundqvist tried to insist the Rangers were the “better team” after Friday night’s 5-3 loss to the Islanders at the Garden, which was depressing because that acknowledged there now may be a debate.
The laughably bad Isles (10-19-7) invaded their slumping enemy’s Big Apple lair with attitude and stole their first regulation win in 17 games — as well as their second win of any kind in their last 15 outings — behind two goals from speedy winger Michael Grabner, who hadn’t tallied since opening night.
The mistake-prone Rangers (1618-2) fell behind 2-0 for the fifth time in six games, this time to a Long Island club that sat 15th in the 16-team Eastern Conference and had scored more than two goals just once in its last 12 contests.
“We scored more than t wo goals,” said Isles coach Jack Capuano, who got 21 saves from Evgeni Nabokov. “It’s been a long time.”
Benoit Pouliot, Derek Dorsett and Derek Stepan scored for the 11th-place Blueshirts to make it 3-2 in the second period – the Rangers’ first regulation lead in six games – but Lundqvist couldn’t make any big saves other than his consecutive second-period stops on Isles captain John Tavares.
“There’s no question we beat ourselves,” said Lundqvist, who is in complete free-fall after stopping only 15 of 19 pucks. “We kept making some simple mistakes, and I was not there to clean it up. . . . In the end, I gave up four goals on 19 shots. I have to be better.” There was significant life to the rivalry match, with Islanders fans peppering the stands and almost a full period worth of special teams play (19:33). Five of the game’s eight goals were scored during one of the clubs’ 11 combined power plays, including Pouliot’s, Stepan’s, and Thomas Vanek’s early third-period tip-in that gave the Isles a 4-3 lead they protected until Grabner’s late empty-netter.
The Islanders also built their 2-0 lead on two shorthanded breakaway goals, one by Grabner and one by Cal Clutterbuck on a penalty shot earned from a ludicrous hooking call on Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
Coach Alain Vigneault didn’t blame Lundqvist, saying the “four scoring chances” his team gave up were “Grade-A,” which has become commonplace for a club that consistently has breakdowns in front of its underperforming goaltender.
“This is a game where, you know, you want to go out and feel good about your game, but then all you face is really breakaways, and no shots really,” Lundqvist said. “There were not a lot of pucks in my hands, so to feel good about your game is tough.”
They weren’t all breakaways, though. Islanders defenseman Brian Strait’s first career NHL regular-season goal 11:26 into the second period was a slap shot from the point that trickled through Lundqvist’s increasingly worrisome glove hand and tied it up, 3-3.
“We’ve got to work harder,” said Rangers forward Rick Nash, who assisted on Stepan’s second-period power play tally.
The Rangers fell to 2-8-2 in their last 12 home games and 1-4-2 on this home stand, which closes with a back-to-back against the Wild and Maple Leafs starting Sunday night. They’ll next face the Isles at Yankee Stadium on Jan. 29 as part of the NHL’s new Stadium Series.