Old Time Hockey.
A phrase that’s thrown around more on T-shirts nowadays than in the hockey mainstream. But for a few times a year in a small corner of the continent, it becomes a reality.
In July, the NHL typically releases it’s schedule for the coming season. Immediately, Islanders and Rangers fans circle the calendar and for (at least right now) 8 times a year, nothing else in New York sports matters. It’s the one thing that guarantees New York hockey gets the back page of the local newspapers. It is without a doubt the best rivalry in sports. No matter where the teams are in the standings, the game is important and the hype is always there.
It’s Islanders and Rangers baby!
This year’s rivalry was one of the better ones in recent memory. It was a roller coaster ride from the get-go that saw a lot of highlights and more than it’s fair share of drama.
Game 1 – Madison Square Garden – December 3, 2006.
The winner would walk out of the Garden in first place in the Atlantic Division. The Islanders stormed out to an incredible 4-0 first period lead. That massive cushion quickly expired as Brendan Shannahan scored twice to cut the deficit to one at 4-3 before the Islanders got a key goal to make it a 5-3 game going into the third. Shannahan completed his hat trick to make it a 5-4 game, but Viktor Kozlov did him one better, scoring twice in the third to give him four goals in the game and the Islanders a 7-4 win. The win marked the latest point in the season the Islanders had sole posession of first place in their division in over 10 years.
Game 2 – Madison Square Garden – December 19, 2006
Hat tricks again were the theme of this game, however only one man would turn the trick. Shannahan again found himself on the score sheet, netting the game’s first goal. Jason Blake quickly answered back for the Islanders to tie it. A Ranger meltdown in discipline early in the second created some serious power play time for the Islanders, and that proved to be the turning point. Blake scored his second and later his third goal of the game off a nifty, no look behind the back pass from Miroslav Satan. The Islanders survived a Ranger rally to win 4-3.
Game 3 – Nassau Coliseum – December 26, 2006
One week to the day of the penalty filled game at the Garden, it was expected to be another chippy affair for the first game on Long Island. It turned out to be quite the opposite. The game had the feel of a chess match, a very tight defensive, checking game. Late in the second period, Arron Asham ripped a shot from the blueline that deflected off a Ranger stick over the shoulder of Henrik Lundqvist to break the ice. Jason Blake scored early in the third, and that was all she wrote as Rick DiPietro did the rest, and the Isles blanked the Rangers 2-0.
Game 4 – Madison Square Garden – January 9, 2007
Stuck in a six game losing streak, the Islanders hadn’t won a game since they last beat the Rangers in December. Satan opened up the scoring in the first, but the Rangers answered right back less than 90 seconds later on a goal by Marty Straka and appeared to be heading to the room with a 2-1 lead after a Jaromir Jagr goal. But Brendan Witt, who had been a key physical player in the series, scored a goal in the period’s final minute to tie it up. Mike Sillinger scored in the second to put the Isles up 3-2. The lead lasted less than a minute into the third when Jagr wasn’t pressured on a power play and the game was tied yet again off a beautiful pass from Jagr to Shannahan. Five minutes later the Islanders sealed the deal when Kozlov scored and just 27 seconds later, Sillinger scored his second of the game off a turnover. The 5-3 Islanders win marked four straight wins in the Garden for the Isles and the first time they won 3 games in a season in New York City.
Game 5 – Madison Square Garden – March 5, 2007
This would kick off a home and home between the two clubs and would be a turning point in not only the series, but each team’s seasons. On this night, only one team came to play, but one player on the other team did. This game was dominated by the Rangers from start to finish. Only DiPietro wouldn’t give it to them without a fight. The first period saw the Rangers get 17 shots on goal to the Isles 6. The Isles killed 3 power plays in the first, yet scored the period’s only goal off a fluke bounce on a power play of their own by Blake. In the second, the shots margin was 19-13, with the Rangers getting another 3 power plays. But DiPietro was still stopping everything he saw. The third saw Petr Prucha tie the game off the one mistake DiPietro made on the evening, but DiPietro made several SportsCenter style stops to send this game to overtime. When all was said and done, DiPietro stopped 56 shots with one goal against, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished in over 50 years in the NHL. His magic couldn’t carryover into the shootout however, as Matt Cullen had the only goal to give the Rangers a 2-1 win.
Game 6 – Nassau Coliseum – March 8, 2007
Controversy was the theme on this night on Long Island. In a game that had a similar feel to the one on December 26th, Chris Simon would briefly become the hero of the game when he drew first blood for the Islanders with the game’s opening goal. The series had a new element with the Rangers addition of Sean Avery into the mix. He was a non factor in the last game at the Garden, but his presence was well noted in this game. He drew three penalties against the Isles, the third proved to be the killer as Paul Mara tied the game on the ensuing power play. Entering the third tied at 1, both teams traded chances and it appeared this game would head to overtime. In the heat of the moment, Simon was hit from behind by Ryan Hollweg and quickly retaliated with a swinging stick to Hollweg’s jaw. A five minute major penalty was assessed which saw Prucha tally on the power play. In the game’s closing seconds, Ryan Smyth appeared to tie the game when he deflected a puck past Lundqvist and into the net. Video replays though were deemed inconclusive and after Lundqvist made a last gasp pad save, the Rangers won in regulation 2-1.
Game 7 – Nassau Coliseum – March 25, 2007
The common theme on Long Island continued with another defensive, tight checking game. Halfway through, the game was still scoreless when Colton Orr jammed at DiPietro’s pads and managed to knock the puck across the line for the game’s first goal a little over the halfway point of the second period. Playing come from behind hockey, the Isles managed to scratch and claw their way back into it when Alexei Yashin scored on the power play to tie it at 1. Once again, the game carried into overtime and a hook on Jagr led Sean Hill to the penalty box which led to Michael Nylander’s game winning power play goal. The Rangers won their third straight game against the Isles 2-1. After the game, it was revealed DiPietro suffered another concussion in a pileup led by the notorious Avery.
Game 8 – Nassau Coliseum – April 3, 2007
The Rangers had a chance to do two things that led their fans to salivate at the gates of Coliseum – clinch their own playoff spot and officially end their archrival’s season, all in one crushing blow. They needed a regulation victory to do so, but the Isles struck first again on a goal by Asham. Yashin fed Satan to give the Isles a 2-0 lead before Shannahan got the Rangers back into the game off a chip shot from behind the net. A costly turnover by Witt gave the puck to Jagr, who fed the puck to Nylander, who put it in the back of the net. A furious Islander attack in the third was foiled by a crossbar and some stellar goaltending by Lundqvist, and once again we went to overtime. Both teams failed to convert on power play chances in the extra session, and a shootout was needed to decide a winner. The Isles elected to shoot first, and Satan scored off a shifty deke. Wade Dubliewicz, a callup for the injured DiPietro, was solid stopping all three Ranger attempts to cap off a marvelous game by the stocky third stringer, and the Isles had a 3-2 victory.
Final season records –
Islanders 5-1-2, 12 points
Rangers 3-4-1, 7 points
Even though it appears the Rangers will head to the postseason and the Isles will miss the dance for the second straight season, fans of both teams certainly can’t complain about what they saw when these two teams got together this year. The pens will anxiously be uncapped in July and will furiously start circling the calendar hoping to see yet another spectacular rivalry game.
