Rangers Suffer 2-1 Shootout Defeat In Brooklyn Debut

POST GAME RECAP:
Rangers Suffer 2-1 Shootout Defeat In Brooklyn Debut
In an extremely exciting game which lived up to, and largely exceeded, its vast pre-game hype , the Rangers dropped a 2-1 shootout decision to the Islanders in their first-ever visit to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Islanders forward Kyle Okposo scored in the first round of the shootout and neither team scored thereafter as the Rangers fell to 2-3 in overtime, and 1-2 in the shootout, this season. Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello and Dan Boyle all were stopped in the shootout.

The Rangers had a prime chance to win the game in overtime when the Islanders were caught with too many men on the ice at 1:12, but Isles goalie Jaroslav Halak rose to the occasion with big saves on Boyle, Derick Brassard and Kevin Hayes. Then at the conclusion of the power play the Islanders broke the other way led by their captain John Tavares, but Henrik Lundqvist made a huge stop of his own to keep the score tied.

Lundqvist was sensational Friday night stopping 36 of 37 shots. Halak was also impressive, finishing with 33 saves through.

The Rangers could not have hoped for much of a better first period Wednesday as they largely imposed their will on the Islanders over the opening 20 minutes of play. However despite plenty of jump, numerous prime scoring chances, and a 13-6 shots advantage, the Rangers could not find a way to beat Halak, and the game remained scoreless into the second period.

Then in the middle twenty the Islanders began to to turn the tide in their favor--eventually they'd outshoot the Rangers 16-9 in the second--and when handed a two-man advantage midway through the period they capitalized to score the game's first goal.

After the Rangers failed on the first two power plays of the game, the Islanders were finally awarded their first at 10:58 of the second when Keith Yandle was whistled for a hooking minor. The situation grew more dire for the visitors when Dan Girardi sailed a clearing attempt accidentally over the glass and was penalized for a delay of game penalty at 12:05.

Provided with 53 seconds of a two-man advantage, the Islanders needed only 17 seconds to open the scoring as John Tavares snuck his 11th goal past Lundqvist from close range at 12:22.

Lundqvist kept his focus, though, and made two sharp saves after the Tavares goal as the Rangers killed off Girardi's penalty. Six minutes later they found a way to pull even on the scoreboard.
Viktor Stalberg, playing in his first-ever Rangers-Islanders clash, planted himself in front of Halak and redirected a Marc Staal shot into the back of the net with just 1:23 remaining in the second period, his third goal of the season tying the game 1-1.

Already playing without two key veterans--the injured duo of Derek Stepan and Kevin Klein--the Rangers also were forced to recall Tanner Glass from Hartford Wednesday morning because Emerson Etem was not feeling well enough to play. Glass provided the team a big lift, playing with robust amounts of energy and passion, skating on a line with the equally-intense J.T. Miller and Oscar Lindberg.

FINAL STATS
NY RANGERS 1 NY ISLANDERS 2 F/SO

Scoring Summary
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
12:22 NYI PPG - John Tavares (12) Wrist shot - ASST: Kyle Okposo (15), Johnny Boychuk (8) 1 - 0 NYI
18:37 NYR Viktor Stalberg (3) Backhand shot - ASST: Marc Staal (8), Dominic Moore (1) 1 - 1 Tie
3rd Period
NONE
OT Period
NONE
Shootout
ROUND New York Islanders New York Rangers
1 Kyle Okposo G Rick Nash S
2 Frans Nielsen S Zuccarello S
3 John Tavares S Dan Boyle S


Penalty Summary
1st Period
14:57 NYI Mikhail Grabovski Interference - 2 min against Oscar Lindberg
2nd Period
07:48 NYI Josh Bailey Hooking - 2 min against Kevin Hayes
10:58 NYR Keith Yandle Hooking - 2 min against Brock Nelson
12:05 NYR Dan Girardi Delaying Game-Puck over glass - 2 min
3rd Period
NONE
OT Period
01:12 NYI John Tavares Too many men/ice - bench - 2 min
03:19 NYR Keith Yandle Roughing - 2 min against Casey Cizikas
03:19 NYI Casey Cizikas Roughing - 2 min against Keith Yandle


shots by period
Period NYR NYI
1st 13 6
2nd 9 16
3rd 6 12
OT 6 3
Total 34 37


Team Stats
Category NYR NYI
Power Plays 0/3 1/2
Hits 52 52
Faceoff Wins 27 25
Giveaways 10 13
Takeaways 7 9
Blocked Shots 20 24
Penalty Minutes 6 8

NEXT GAME TOMORROW 7:00 PM RANGERS VS AVALANCHE