Islanders Come Alive in Third Period To Snap Rangers’ Winning Streak
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UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Miroslav Satan scored the winner for the second straight game, and the Islanders — with three goals in the final period — snapped the Rangers’ winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory last night.
The Rangers, who went 5-1 on a homestand that concluded Monday with a 2-0 victory against Philadelphia, scored only 12 goals during that stretch but managed to keep winning on the back of Henrik Lundqvist’s strong goaltending.
Lundqvist has played in every game this season and allowed more than one goal for the first time in five games. That was enough to drop the Rangers to 0-5-1 on the road.
Satan scored twice in the third period on Saturday night as the Islanders rallied for a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. They earned that one without goalie Rick DiPietro, who left in the second period with an eye injury.
He recovered quickly enough to play Tuesday, and made 28 saves — including two as the Rangers pushed hard for the tying goal with 3:05 left. The Islanders have won three in a row and five of six. Chris Drury gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the second period. Paul Mara restored the one-goal edge in the third.
Trent Hunter got the Islanders even early in the final period, and Ruslan Fedotenko also had a tying goal to set up Satan’s heroics.
The Islanders won this time with Ted Nolan coaching solo. Hall of Fame coach Al Arbour ran the team alongside Nolan on Saturday night and earned the win in his 1,500th game behind the New York bench.
Hunter got the Islanders even 1-1 at 1:08 when he took a pass in the right circle and fired a shot that beat Lundqvist’s glove and got under the crossbar to make it 1-1.
That tie didn’t last long.
Mara put the Rangers back on top 3:42 later when he sneaked in back-door toward the left post and deftly redirected Sean Avery’s pass from the right-wing boards past DiPietro at 4:50.
Fedotenko took advantage during a power play, when the teams were skating 4-on-3, by putting in a quick shot to Lundqvist’s right off a cross-slot pass from Mike Comrie at 9:15.