The Rangers are playing Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in Boston on Sunday. The Broadway Blueshirts dropped game 1 of the series 3-2 after an overtime goal from Brad Marchand sunk New York.
It's not often you see a team skate off to a standing ovation, but that's what went down Saturday night in the final Islanders game to be played at the Nassau Coliseum. They gave the fans one heck of a show, leading the Penguins 3-2 14:44 into the 3rd before a Paul Martin shot found the back of the net and sent the game to Overtime. The Isles continued the offensive, as they had all game, but it was a chance off the stick of a Penguin, Brooks Orpik, that ended the game 4-3 and the series 4-2.
John Tavares' goal at 10:11 in the third nearly tore the roof off the Nassau Coliseum, because it gave the Islanders a Game 4 victory the team so desperately needed. Both teams went back-and-forth the entire game, with the Islanders holding two early leads, which didn't even combine to total two minutes. They let in an early goal in the final period off the stick of Evgeni Malkin, but Mark Streit, John Tavares, and Casey Cizikas netted three unanswered to help the Isles pull away.
At times it wasn't a guarantee that the Blueshirts would make it into the playoffs. After essentially playing two weeks of playoff games at the end of the lockout-shortened season, the Rangers worked their way in as a six seed in the Eastern Conference. Their first round opponent is a familiar one: the Washington Capitals.
The New York Islanders are facing the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Isles come in as the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference, and the team finished the lockout shortened season with 55 points. The Penguins are the top seed in the East, and they enter the postseason after capturing 72 points.
It’s been six seasons since Islanders fans have seen their team in the postseason, but the wait is now over. A young team, led by Hart Trophy candidate John Tavares, will not have an easy first round as they face the Pittsburgh Penguins.
I’m sitting on a leather couch in an upscale bar on Fulton Street and New York Giant cornerback Prince Amukamura is a few feet to my right. My colleague/friend/socializer Kris Venezia is next to me and we engage in conversation to avoid any awkward stares in our direction, which we knowingly received from many people, including Hannah Storm’s younger daughters to our left. You see we inadvertently had situated ourselves in the VIP section of the bar, an open room with neon lighting that offered us a chance to breathe.
The hockey scheduling gods have done the New York Rangers a favor, giving them an easy schedule at a crucial time in the hunt for a postseason spot. The Broadway Blue Shirts, with three games left, will take on Florida, Carolina and New Jersey, three teams that have already been eliminated from the playoffs.
The Rangers are in the 8th spot of the Eastern Conference with the Winnipeg Jets three points behind them the final week of the season, but Captain Ryan Callahan refuses to look in the rear view mirror.
New Jersey is home to some of the biggest and fastest roller coasters in the world. Jersey’s hockey team, the Devils, must have taken some inspiration from this and had a season that was nothing short of a roller coaster ride. On the day after the New York Rangers eliminated the Devils from the playoffs it’s now time to reflect on the season that could have been, but never was.
Maybe the writing was on the wall nearly four years ago when John Tavares first donned a blue and orange Islanders jersey. No flashy ceremony to say “New York hockey is back," but a fresh face for a failing franchise. More likely, you probably viewed the first overall pick of the 2009 draft as another future star who would toil away in a bad organization like Rick Nash (Columbus), Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta) and Rick DiPietro (New York Islanders) before him. With seven games left in the 2013 season, The Islanders officially controls their own destiny to the postseason, and their young alternate captain is the reason why.
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