A perfect ending to the President’s Day weekend will take place on Monday night in a high stakes Metropolitan Division matchup between crosstown rivals as the New York Islanders will host the New York Rangers. Faceoff from Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. ET with coverage on NHLN-US.
There will be a raucous holiday crowd for this one which will add fuel to a rivalry that has renewed with the improved Islanders now being able to challenge the defending Eastern Conference Champion Rangers. The first place Islanders lead the Rangers by four points in the Metro and both teams are in peak form heading into this showdown. This one is must see TV.
Isles Back on Track
A week and a half ago the Islanders were in a bad stretch of four losses in five games but have since righted the ship. The Isles have won five out of their last six including four in a row. The Islanders strength is an offense that ranks fifth in the NHL for goal scoring and has covered for a defense that remains a deep concern. The Islanders rank 23rd for goals against and 30th for penalty killing, which are numbers that cannot sustain success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Defensemen Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk have proven to be astute pickups by much maligned general manager Garth Snow and Travis Hamonic is developing as one of the better up and coming blue liners in the game. Leddy and Boychuk are likely to get extensions and Hamonic has become a classic stay-at-home defenseman that is the glue of the unit. But from there the Islanders are weak and lacking in quality depth. Goaltender Jaroslav Halak has been a workhorse in goal with a respectable .912 save percentage and four shutouts. While he has not been dominant, Halak has at least been an anchor in goal and has filled the void for what has long been an area of trouble for the Isles. Halak has been dominant against the Rangers with a 3-0 record against them this season and a save percentage of .964.
Explosive Demonstration
The Isles are coming off an exciting 6-3 home win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night that also illustrated the concerns about their defense and shutdown ability. Led by Josh Bailey’s two first period goals, New York took leads of 2-0 and 3-2 only to allow the Jackets to tie the game at 3-3 heading into the third period. In the third, however, the Islanders exploded for three goals including two by captain John Tavares to send the Coliseum crowd into a frenzy. It is that offensive capability that not only has made the Islanders a top contender but also one of the most enjoyable teams to watch in the NHL.
Broadway Blueshirts Press on Without the King
The Rangers are also playing well with six wins in their last eight games including three in a row after a 5-1 domination of the Coyotes in Arizona on Saturday night. New York is a much better balanced team than the Islanders as they rank fourth in the NHL for both goal scoring and goals against.
Shutdown defenseman Dan Boyle is day-to-day with an illness while number one goaltender Henrik Lundqvist remains out with a strained blood vessel. The King is out indefinitely which puts the spotlight on backup goaltender Cam Talbot, who has a respectable .918 save percentage on the season. Talbot has seemed to have felt the strain of filling in for The King as of late with a dip to .904 for his February save percentage. Rick Nash is having a phenomenal comeback season with a league high 35 goals along with 20 assists. Nash had a subpar season last year based in large part to concussion issues but worked hard in the summer and is now free and clear of the concussion symptoms. Nash has re-emerged as the dominant left winger that he was known to be with the Columbus Blue Jackets. This is a better Rangers team than last year’s Eastern Conference championship squad.
The Islanders have won all three meetings in this head to head series this season.
