They might have downplayed it, might have said all the right things about looking forward and staying focused, but it was utterly clear on Friday night in the visitors’ dressing room at the Garden, the Islanders were bathing in what was a rare and delightful feeling for them.
They had just beaten the muddied Rangers, 5-3, and by somehow avoiding all of the evil obstacles that have hounded them over the past six weeks, earned their first regulation win since Nov. 12.
“We’ve lost some heartbreakers, no doubt about it,” said coach Jack Capuano, whose team had gone 2-10-4 in that intervening 16-game stretch, putting it well buried in the basement of the putrid Metropolitan Division, where they still reside at 10-19-7. “But for them to come into this building, on this stage — yeah, it’s a big win for us, no question. This is a tough building to play and they have a very solid hockey team.”
Well, that is certainly debatable, as the Rangers (16-18-2) are now 1-4-2 on their nine-game homestand, and are doing all they can to define themselves as underachievers.
But to the Islanders, they might as well have been the 1978 Canadiens, as Thomas Vanek’s deflection early in the third period while on a five-on-three man-advantage gave them a win that right now seems like a monumental accomplishment.
“The best thing is that we got it in regulation,” said Michael Grabner, who scored his first of two goals on a short-handed breakaway late in the first period before adding the empty-netter in the waning seconds and mercifully breaking his scoreless streak that went back to the first game of the season. “We’ve been working hard and putting together some good efforts the last couple games, and weren’t getting rewarded. So this is a step in the right direction.”
In a game that was riddled with penalties from referee Frederick L’Ecuyer — the same maestro who called Devils goalie Cory Schneider on a phantom trapezoid violation Dec. 6 — the most glaring mistake came on a penalty-shot call with 14:42 gone by in the first. Ryan McDonagh made a great play on a backcheck to deny a Cal Clutterbuck breakaway, but L’Ecuyer’s hand went up anyway. When Clutterbuck beat the curiously pedestrian Henrik Lundqvist, the Islanders went up 1-0 and first blood was theirs.
“We’ve had a lot of games that we feel we should have won where we made some mistakes that cost us,” said Clutterbuck, who is starting to hit his agitator stride. “It was good to bear down on this one and get a nice win.”
As the penalties continued to come — the Islanders eventually taking eight and the Rangers five — the second period ended in a 3-3 tie, with Grabner’s short-handed goal precluding three unanswered goals from the Rangers, power-play tallies from Benoit Pouliot and Derek Stepan sandwiching an even-strength goal from Derek Dorsett. But with 11 minutes gone by, just as an Islanders’ power play ended, Brian Strait took a long point shot that got through a screen and past Lundqvist, tying it up.
“It’s good to score more than two goals,” said Capuano, whose team is still 0-16-5 when it scores two goals or fewer. “It’s been a long time.”
The Islanders haven’t had two regulation wins in a row all season, and it certainly would be an accomplishment if they could beat the visiting Ducks on Saturday night. Then, possibly, one might consider talking about momentum.
“I always tell the guys, their work ethic will dictate the scoreboard,” Capuano said. “How we play, that’s what our focus must be.”