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| BATTLING HARD: Scott Hannan of the Calgary Flames trips up Jason Spezza of the Ottawa Senators in third period NHL action at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (AFP) |
New York Rangers centre Brad Richards’ go-ahead goal with 4:55 remaining snapped a tie and sent the Rangers to their seventh straight victory, 4-2 over the Islanders on Tuesday night.
Richards broke a 2-2 tie, and Ryan Callahan added an empty-net goal in the final second for the Rangers, who are on their longest winning streak since October 2009 when they also won seven in a row.
“Whenever you play in this building, it’s up and down, and you never know what’s going to happen,” Tortorella said. “Richie has had some big plays for us early on here. I thought that it was probably one of his better games.”
The Islanders (4-8-3) returned home from a three-game road trip and lost for the fifth time in six outings.
“It’s frustrating,” coach Jack Capuano said. “We played one of our better games.”
Henrik Lundqvist(notes) made 31 saves for his seventh win in 13 games this season. Evgeni Nabokov(notes) stopped 26 shots in the loss.
Sean Avery(notes) and defenseman Steve Eminger(notes) also scored for the Rangers (10-3-3). Frans Nielsen(notes) and Matt Moulson(notes) both netted tying goals, but the Islanders weren’t able to nudge in front.
Avery’s second goal of the season, and second in two games, gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead 14:43 in. With Brian Boyle(notes) and Ruslan Fedotenko(notes) causing havoc around the crease, Avery snapped a wrist shot from the high slot that beat Nabokov to the stick side.
“It feels good just to feel good,” Avery said.
The Islanders tied it just 2:49 later when Nielsen scored with an off-the-rush drive. The game then turned into the typical grind usually generated in this fierce rivalry. The Islanders finished with 29 hits, and the Rangers had 24.
Eminger put the Rangers ahead for the second time at 6:07 of the second period with his first goal since New York’s 6-0 win at Washington on Feb. 25. Eminger has 18 goals in 427 NHL games.
In another match, after picking up his second penalty of the game — one that led to a New Jersey power-play goal — Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand was benched for the last 9 minutes of the second period.
Just 6 seconds into the third, he showed that he got the message.
“March is a guy that plays on the edge. Every once in a while he crosses that line,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said Tuesday night after Marchand responded to his benching with his fourth goal in three games to give the Bruins a 4-3 win over the Devils.