The Islanders have put a surprisingly competitive product on the ice this season, but that's only half the battle. They have to convince the fans to come back, and their third straight win over the Rangers in as many tries this season should help. "It's definitely extra special for our fans," DiPietro said of the win.
"This is a game they circle on the calendar ...
Every Rangers game is big, but this was special for a lot of guys who had family in town. It's exciting to put on a good show, and that's what we did." The loss was the sixth straight for the Rangers, marking the first time they've had a losing streak that long since March 15-25, 2004.
Now, they are third in the Atlantic Division, a point behind the Isles, who have three games in hand and trail the first-place Devils by two points before playing in Ottawa tonight. The Islanders came out hard and got the house rocking right away when defenseman Chris Campoli smeared Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr into the glass. The hostilities continued moments later when Viktor Kozlov dropped Jason Ward with a forearm in the corner.
Jagr normally lights up the Coliseum. But the defensive pairing of Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek held him without a shot on goal through the first two periods. He managed five shots in the final period, but two came in the final minute when the goalie was pulled.
"It was just trying to get in his face and not give him much open ice," Witt said. "We play better when we're physical, and our forwards were hitting them and making them cough up the puck." DiPietro, who made 28 saves, responded to a vulgar Rangers chant in the first period by doing the splits to make a kick save against a break-in by Adam Hall.
But Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was just as tough during a four-on-three Islanders power play in the second period, stopping a drive by Andy Hilbert followed by two rebound shots by Alexei Yashin on the same rush. The Coliseum finally exploded at 16:43 of the second period when Martinek threw a pass off the right boards to Arron Asham, who wound up and launched a slap shot about 10 feet inside the blue line. Rangers defenseman Karl Rachunek went down to block it, and the puck hit his stick and veered upward over Lundqvist for a goal.
Seconds later, Martinek suffered a bloody wound over his right eye when Michael Nylander's stick came up, but he returned in the third period. Nylander got a double-minor. Just 11 seconds after the penalty ended in the third period, former Rangers defenseman Tom Poti sent a cross-ice pass to Jason Blake in the left circle, and his wrist shot beat Lundqvist in the top right corner for his 21st goal and a 2-0 lead at 1:48.
That sent the volume level to its highest reading in the Coliseum since the season began, and the game ended with Islanders fans chanting, "You can't beat us!" A beaming Nolan said: "That's the loudest it's been since I've been here, and it was a great thing to see. It was great for the players to see the crowd full, and hopefully, we won a few fans who will come back here and make this place as exciting as it was tonight for the rest of the year.
" Do you feel better about Alexei Yashin yet? Yes, he's having a great year Not yet -- still got four years to go on his contract!
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