While one teams stock is rising, the other has their fans very nervous as the New York Islanders and Rangers are on very different paths so far. It had seemed as if in the pre-season it was going to be the Blueshirts that’d dominate regular season play, but thus far the season has proved otherwise.
Yes, it is only three games for the Rangers, but there is definite trouble for the fans of the Red, White and Blue as the team hasn’t really reached its full potential as of yet.
As for the Islanders, right now their stock is on the rise-and it happens to be a good time to buy into the team. Why buy into the Islanders…John Tavares, as the forward continues to develop and grow into one of the elite players in the NHL.
The forward recorded his third career hat trick to lead the Islanders (3-1-0) to a 4-2 victory over the Blueshirts in hockey action on Saturday night. Both teams were also skating for a cause, as you can see several players and coaches wearing pick for the Hockey Fights Cancer Campaign.
There was also bragging rights, as the youthful Islanders team now sits as the top team in New York City with this victory. In what was an instant classic at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, both teams battled until Tavares took over the game in the third period of play.
John, who has really worked on his skating skills, and has also bulked up in the off-season, was set up on a pretty pass by Mark Streit (3) and P.A. Parenteau (5), to push the team ahead at the 3:30 mark.
As for the Rangers, they were able to score twice on keeper Evgeni Nabokov, who made 29 saves in the cage. The Blueshirts found goals from Marian Gaborik (2) at the 6:23 mark of the second period, as ‘Gabby’ was set up by Brad Richards (2) and Derek Stepan (1).
Brandon Prust recorded his first goal of the season, on a nice pass from Ruslan Fedotenko (2), which had tied the game up at 2-2 to tie things up before the end of the second period of play. Tavares took over in the third, to lead the Islanders to their third straight victory.
Michael Del Zotto and Tim Erixon were both plus two’s on the ice for the Rangers, while cager Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves in the cage.
The Islanders will look to keep this positive momentum going, but will have four days off until their next game, as they will face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
As for the Rangers, they will have a lot of questions to answer before this road trip continues with a tour of Canada coming up next for the Blueshirts. First stop for the guys will be a trip to Vancouver for a 10:00 p.m. game against the Canucks.
Stacy Podelski
http://www.smacksportvideos.com/
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