3/31/11 Rangers vs. Islanders

Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.

The final saga between the Rangers and Islanders will take place tonight on Long Island as the Rangers look to provide some more cushion to a potential playoff spot (which they will get). The Rangers took a tough loss to Buffalo yesterday, but it did not seem like the Rangers looked like they had any serious issues to overcome in that game. Give credit to Buffalo for shutting down the Rangers throughout the game, supplying backup Jhonas Enroth with quite a bit of protection. But tonight, the Rangers are going to have to take full control of the reigns against the Islanders. The Rangers have had trouble putting the puck in the net as of recent, but have also done a good job of keeping a lot of pucks out of their own net. The Rangers have had some great success against the Islanders this season, winning four out of their five meetings, all four consecutively. Marian Gaborik has scored six goals against the Islanders so far this season. Him being big factor in tonights game is a must for the Rangers success. The Rangers are currently tied with the Buffalo Sabres, and the Carolina Hurricanes are right below them. A win tonight will tie the Rangers with the Montreal Canadiens, and put them ahead of the Sabres who are off tonight.

The Islanders are in the midst of a three game losing streak, the longest streak of losses it seems since they changed coaches to Jack Capuano. The Islanders are mathematically eliminated, but that will not be a reason for them to just roll over and lose tonight. The Islanders sent out ex-Rangers goalie prospect Al Montoya between the pipes last time these two teams met. After a dismal two periods, the Islanders replaced him with Nathan Lawson, the fourth goalie to face the Rangers for the Islanders this season. Along with that, the Islanders are missing some key players in captain Doug Weight, Milan Jurcina and Bruno Gervais. Jurcina and Gervais are both defensemen, which means the defense is lacking some depth, something the Rangers would want to try and exploit.

My Diagnosis


The Rangers are lucky to have three days of rest, because they're schedule is really picking up now that its over. Despite playing a game 24 hours ago, the Rangers are going to need to be alert, and not try to make the fancy play. the grinding game has worked for the Rangers so far this season against the Islanders, and swaying from that now would be a terrible mistake. Throw pucks at the net, fore-check, and takeaway the neutral zone. If they can execute that well enough, they have a good shot of taking these two points from the Islanders tonight.