Michael Grabner beats Henrik Lundqvist with a shorthanded goal last night.
Getty Images/Kathy Kmonicek

When you have two teams struggling to win, it’s bound to be a tug of war. The Rangers and Islanders renewed their bitter rivalry last night at the transformed Garden. When it was over, it was the Islanders who came away with their first regulation win in 17 games (11/12 vs Nashville). They defeated the Rangers 5-3. It was just their 10th win but came at the Rangers’ expense on what’s been a dreadful homestand. The Rangers fell to 1-4-2 on a team record nine-game homestand.

”This was definitely a frustrating game. There is no question we beat ourselves,” a dejected Henrik Lundqvist said after allowing four goals on 19 shots. ”We kept making some simple mistakes, and I was not there to clean it up.”

Lundqvist not being able to come up with the big stops has become a disturbing trend. Not to say it was his fault. But he wasn’t blameless. A controversial call led to Cal Clutterbuck scoring on a penalty shot. He got behind the defense and as he was moving in on Lundqvist, Ryan McDonagh attempted to lift his stick. Incredulously, they awarded Clutterbuck the penalty shot. With an aggressive Lundqvist challenging, he put one through him. I’m not even sure how Lundqvist allowed it to go in. We were pretty high up.

”I just felt that I got a little tug,” Clutterbuck said. ”Obviously, it impeded me from making a play. That’s what the ref saw, I guess.”

Already having failed on two power plays, the Rangers complicated things by giving up a shorthanded goal to Michael Grabner. The very guy I warned about in a previous post who hadn’t scored since the Islanders’ season opening win over the Devils had no trouble beating Lundqvist on a breakaway for just his third. McDonagh failed to keep a puck in allowing the dangerous Grabner to break in and go forehand deke on Lundqvist tucking it underneath him.

”I don’t think we had won too many games overall,” Grabner pointed out after doubling his output by also sealing the Rangers’ fate with an empty netter. ”We’ve got to work ourselves back into the playoff picture. Today was a good start, but tomorrow is another test.”

To their credit, the Rangers came back getting the next three. On the same power play, Benoit Pouliot beat Evgeni Nabokov thanks to a nice set up from rookie Chris Kreider. Derick Brassard started it with a pass for Kreider down low. He then turned and found Pouliot in front for his fourth cutting the deficit to 2-1 exactly 30 seconds after Grabner’s shorty. It was a big goal that gave them momentum.

One of the few bright spots last night was the play of the fourth line. Brian Boyle, Derek Dorsett and Dominic Moore put together some good shifts during the second. Their hard work was rewarded when Dorsett took a Moore feed and came out with a wrap around that caromed off Islander defenseman Thomas Hickey past Nabokov to tie it. Boyle was screening in front. Anton Stralman added a helper.

Clutterbuck went to the box for a cross check. The unpredictable Rangers power play came through again. This time, Derek Stepan got to a loose puck in front and whistled home his seventh at 7:58 giving the Rangers their first lead. Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello combined to find him. But the Islanders got it back when defenseman Brian Strait sailed his first just over Lundqvist’s glove from Josh Bailey and Ryan Strome. It was Strome’s first NHL point. Of course, Strait would score his first. Every player does against this team. Fitting too since I actually saw an Islander fan sporting a Strait autographed jersey. You can’t make it up.

The officiating wasn’t great for either side. There were a number of questionable calls I didn’t agree with. One was to Kreider for interference late in the second. There wasn’t much contact and it looked incidental. That soft call decided the game. Unable to clear the zone, the Rangers watched Kyle Okposo skate towards an open slot and let go of shot pass that an open Thomas Vanek redirected by Lundqvist for his 11th at 1:18 of the third. Andrew MacDonald added a helper on the play after making the keep.

From a Ranger perspective, the breakdown was a clear example of what’s wrong. They still had plenty of time to comeback. The refs tried their best to help them calling a phantom hook on Strome. The ensuing power play was so putrid, boos rained down. They earned it. Typically, they blew two more chances over the final seven minutes. The one that hurt the most came after Bailey went to the box for boarding with 2:52 left. It was a similar opportunity to the one they converted against a much better team the Penguins last game. Of course, they fumbled the puck handling it like a grenade before Grabner scored into an open net.

Leave it to Alain Vigneault to wait too long to pull Lundqvist. We got back to the car so quick that we heard Vigneault’s press conference. What a buffoon. His answers left a lot to be desired. I’ll leave it at that.

”When you outwork teams, you will find the bounces going your way,” Nash said. ”When you get outworked, that’s when they seem to go against you.”

A fitting quote from one of the symbols of what’s gone wrong since Glen Sather overturned the ’11-12 roster. They had their window and blew it.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Benoit Pouliot, NYR (PPG-4th of season, 3 SOG in 16:59)

2nd Star-Travis Hamonic, NYI (assist, 2 PIM, 2 hits, 4 blocked shots, +2 in 25:10)

1st Star-Michael Grabner, NYI (2 goals-3rd, 4th including SHG and empty netter)