Islanders rally to beat Rangers in battle of New York
With the Islanders and Rangers home rinks just being separated by a few miles of the city of New York, whenever the two teams clash it’s a good bet to see a raucous crowd and spirited teams when they
meet in the battle of New York. That’s exactly what happened when the New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers 6-4 at the Islanders' Nassau Coliseum on Monday night.
Blake Comeau of the Islanders got the game off to a great start by putting a great snap shot behind Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers at 12:27 of the first period. The unassisted goal was Comeau’s second
of the season. The Rangers got that one back when Brandon Dubinsky found the back of the Islanders’ net at 13:57. Michael Del Zotto and Michal Rozsival provided the assists. The Islander would strike again in the first period, with Josh Bailey scoring his
first of the season on a wrist shot at 16:47.
After picking up an assist in the first period, Del Zotto scored a goal of his own on the power play, 8:28 into the second frame. The Rangers made it a 3-2 game with a Dan Girardi goal at 13:01, with Alex
Frolov and Marc Staal contributing assists. Matt Moulson tied the game with just 21 seconds left in the second period with a snap shot that went right past Islanders’ goaltender Rick DiPietro.
There wasn’t another goal until 12:46 into the third period, when Artem Anisimov converted a pass from Marian Gaborik into his first goal of the season. After that, the Islanders took control of the game,
scoring three unanswered goals to make the victory theirs. P.A. Parenteau’s wrist shot was the first, followed Blake Comeau’s second goal of the game. Frans Nielsen of Denmark rounded out the Isles’ rally with his first of the season at 19:41.
Comeau went on the finish the game with three points, and he was content with his efforts. The goal-scoring began at the tail end of last season, when Comeau went on a bit of a scoring tear.
“I feel I made some big strides in the last half of last year,” Comeau said. “It’s something I want to continue this year.”
Comeau added that he was “not sure what clicked in, but I think I’ve got a shoot-first mentality right now, where before I was always looking to pass. My confidence is really rolling right now, and I want
to keep going.”
The Islanders’ next game will be against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday 13 October, while the Rangers will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday 15 October.
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