Rangers Top Dubielewicz, Islanders To Split Home-and-Home

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Scott Gomez deflected a shot past Islanders backup goalie Wade Dubielewicz early in the third period, and the Rangers earned a split of the home-and-home series with a 4–1 victory last night.

The Rangers, who lost to the Islanders 4–3 in a shootout on Tuesday night, came out of the two-game series with three points out of four. They are 8–0–3 in their last 11. Brendan Shanahan scored a breakaway goal just 1:29 in, and Sean Avery built the Rangers' lead to 2-0 later in the first period when he was left open in the slot. Dubielewicz couldn't really be faulted with any of the goals. Gomez scored when a shot by Marc Staal ricocheted in off him and Islanders defenseman Rob Davison at 1:12 of the third.

Even though the Islanders lost, the decision by coach Ted Nolan to start Dubielewicz over goalie Rick DiPietro couldn't be faulted. Dubielewicz finished with 24 saves, and was bailed out a few times when the Rangers found goal posts when shooting at an open net. His best stop came on Chris Drury, when he dived across the crease to make a stick save.

Avery sealed it with an empty-net goal with 57.8 seconds remaining. Henrik Lundqvist bounced back from Tuesday's loss with a 26-save effort. His only blemish was Sean Bergenheim's second-period goal that caromed in off Rangers defenseman Marek Malik.