First game out of the all star break, the two teams faced each other at the Coliseum. This night went the way of the Islanders, a 4-1 for the Orange and Blue. Mikhail Grabovski, Matt Martin, Ryan Strome and John Tavares provided the Islanders offense that night, while Carl Haglin scored the lone Rangers goal right near the end of the hockey game. Two nights later the Rangers were shut out 1-0 by the Montreal Canadiens, putting further difference between themselves and the first place Islanders. From that night on, the tides have turned for both teams.
The Rangers had gotten hot since the calender switched to 2015. Since the start of the new year, the Rangers have lost a total for four games, two to the Islanders, one to Boston and one to Montreal. The boys from Broadway, since that loss to Montreal, have gone on to win three straight. They have gone on to beat Carolina 4-1, Florida 6-3 and just last night the Bruins 4-2. The Boston game was a real statement game for the Red White and Blue. Even though the Rangers played without Henrik Lundqvist, who is day to day with a throat injury, they still have a solid goaltender in Cam Talbot as his backup.
In the last three games that the Rangers have won, they have gotten balanced attacks in the scoring department. Rick Nash now has 32 goals, which leads the league, and he has scored 4 goals in the last 3 games. Then your also getting contributions from others as well. Your seeing guys like Carl Hagelin, Jesper Fast, Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, Dan Boyle, Ryan McDonagh and Mats Zucarello have all gotten their names on scoresheets. That's what's called a balanced scoring attack. Most good teams can get scoring from anybody at any time, they can roll four lines and throw other teams into a tizzy on offense. Those have been staples of the Rangers over the last month, which is part of the reason they have looked so good lately.
That's only part of it. Their defense and goaltending has been just as outstanding as the offense as of late. Again even though they will be without Lundqvist, who is day to day with the neck injury, they still have Cam Talbot, who has been doing a sensational job between the pipes as of late. That's the other key to being a success in this league, you need to have solid defense and goaltending. Right now the Rangers have that going for them and then some.
Things aren't looking quire as bright for the Islanders as they are their Broadway counterparts. Ever since that win over the Rangers out of the break, the Blue and Orange have hit a three game losing streak. In that losing streak, the Islanders have been outscored 13-5. There are two big reasons the Islanders seem to be going in the wrong direction the last couple of games One has been the defense and goaltending. In their last five games, the win over the Rangers was the only one in which the Islanders have allowed less than four goals. Sure they beat the Flyers 7-4 on January 19th, but they game up 4 goals to both Florida and Detroit and then gave up 5 goals to the Bruins. That's a bit of a problem. The Islanders defense has been healthy, but one of the big problems, which has been a problem for the team most of the year, has been killing penalties. The Islanders can't stay out of the box, and when the do spend time in the sin bin, the rest of the skaters can't kill a penalty to save their lives the last 5+ games.
Chad Johnson hasn't been nearly as stellar as the backup goalie as he was in Boston just a year ago. Jaroslav Halak has looked like a normal netminder the past few starts. He was beaten by a soft backhand goal against the Panthers just two nights ago. To make matters worse, the Islanders have had real trouble finding the back of the net. They have scored 2,1 and 2 goals in their last three games. This coming from a team that used to average 3+ goals a night when they in the grove. Part of the problem is the fact that Kyle Okposo is out with his injury. Thanks to an eye injury, Okposo is going to be out 6-8 weeks, which comes as a huge blow to that Islanders offense. He was the team leader in assists and second on the team in points behind only John Tavares in points. Okposo was really coming into his own, now has to miss time with a brutal eye injury. With him out, you would think that other guys would step their game up. Well outside maybe Tavares, the rest of the offense seems to have gone a little cold. After his hot start to the year, Brock Nelson has really cooled down, same thing too for Ryan Strome.
Right now the Islanders have fallen out of first place, sitting just one point behind the Penguins for First. Sitting on the Islanders heels are the Rangers, sitting just a point back. What this means is the Islanders have hit a slide and the Rangers are starting to really catch fire. If the two met in a playoff series, I'd have more confidence in the rangers than the Isles, based on the recent events. Still there is plenty of time, from an Islanders perspective at least, to try and straighten this thing out and get back on track.
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