Kozlov Moves Islanders Past Rangers, to Top of Atlantic
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No matter their place in the standings, the Islanders have always risen to the occasion when playing at Madison Square Garden. Whether dynastic or depleted, the team has always been one of the Rangers’ toughest opponents, and last night was certainly no different. In the end, the Isles came away with a thrilling 7–4 victory behind Viktor Kozlov’s dynamic four-goal performance. And the divided crowd — comprised of a surprisingly large number of Isles fans — got to see the postlockout NHL at its most entertaining.
One night after scoring the 300th goal of his NHL career (in Saturday’s 5–2 victory over the Penguins), Miroslav Satan opened the scoring when he blew past an out-of-his element Karel Rachunek (minus-two on the night). And just over two minutes later, an unencumbered Chris Simon sent a wrist shot past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist to give the Isles a quick 2–0 lead.
The Isles’ relentless assault on Lundqvist continued unfettered, as Kozlov — another seemingly successful reclamation project undertaken by head coach Ted Nolan — backhanded the puck into a yawning net to give the Isles a seemingly commanding 3–0 lead. The one constant for all three goals (besides Lundqvist) was Rangers defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, whose declining offensive production is egregiously outweighed by his atrocious positional play. He finished a minus-three on the night, and did absolutely nothing to earn the 19 minutes of ice time he received.
The Blueshirts went on the power play late in the first period, when Arron Asham went to the box for hooking. But they were unable to capitalize, and just moments after Asham’s penalty expired, he and Mike Sillinger raced into the Rangers’ zone and executed a picturesque crossing pattern. Sillinger flipped a pass beyond the reach of Aaron Ward and Michal Rozsival, and Asham fired the puck past a shell-shocked Lundqvist to extend the Isles’ lead to 4–0.
In all, Lundqvist gave up four goals on eight shots, and so it came as little surprise when Renney made a goaltending change for the second period, putting back-up Kevin Weekes between the pipes. Meanwhile, at the other end, DiPietro stopped all 14 shots he faced.
While there would have been precious little reason for hope from the Rangers’ perspective in the pre-lockout NHL, the league’s current rule interpretations make dramatic comebacks a pleasantly realistic possibility. And come back the Rangers did.
With Aaron Ward incarcerated for holding, the Rangers still managed to score their first goal of the game. First, the ever-cagey Brendan Shanahan deftly chipped the puck past Radek Martinek at the Rangers’ blue line. He then rushed into the Isles zone and ripped a wrist shot past DiPietro to get the Blueshirts onto the scoreboard — and finally gave the aggrieved Rangers fans some cause for celebration.
Next, Jaromir Jagr took center stage, first showcasing the puckhandling ability that makes him one of the most dominant players in the NHL, and then grittily battling in the corners. After winning a fight for the puck, he emerged from the right wing boards and ripped a laser-like shot between DiPietro’s leg pads to cut the Isles lead to 4–2. And only 1:08 later, Shanahan struck again, blasting a wrist shot past a suddenly discombobulated DiPietro to continue the Rangers’ improbable resurgence.
But the plucky Isles weren’t quite ready to cave. And with Ozolinsh and Rachunek watching helplessly, Kozlov pounded a rebound past Weekes to put the Isles up 5–3 at the second period’s conclusion.
The third stanza brought more of the same: tireless end-to-end action and sloppy defensive positioning. With Sean Hill in the box for interference, Shanahan buried home the rebound of an Adam Hall blast to again bring the Blueshirts to within one. It was the 18th hat trick of Shanahan’s Hall of Fame-caliber career. And with 20 goals in 27 games this season, he’s on pace to top the 60-goal mark for the first time.
The Rangers kept up their tireless pressure. But after DiPietro made a sensational save on a carom off Shanahan’s skate, the Isles charged back the other way, Kozlov completing the rush by firing a wrist shot past Weekes to increase the Isles’ lead to 6–4. It was Kozlov’s 10th goal of the season, and only the second hat trick of his12-year career. And as it turned out, the enigmatic Russian wasn’t done; he scored his fourth goal of the game just over four minutes later to close the scoring and seal the Isles’ win.
For the Isles, the weekend represented a tremendous step forward. Not only did they defeat two division rivals, but they also passed both the Rangers and Devils to move into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division.
Meanwhile, the Rangers are left to lick their wounds following losses to the Sabres (Friday night) and Isles. Renney would be wise to affect some much-needed personnel changes on the blue line for Thursday night’s game against the Penguins. It’s time for Pöck — and veteran Darius Kasparaitis — to play, and it’s time for Rachunek and Ozolinsh to sit.
Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.