Isles’ Celebrate: The Islanders celebrate Nikolay Kulemin’s goal in a rousing 3-0 shutout of the Rangers at MSG.
AP Photo by Kathy Willens/Getty Images

There were a lot of headlines coming out of last night’s Battle Of New York won convincingly by the Islanders 3-0 over the Rangers. The first is that the Islanders are for real. At every turn, they’ve proven themselves.

Facing a blood rival that swept a three-game Californian trip and entered winners in 13 of 14, it was the first place Metro-leading Isles that imposed their will. Following a scoreless first period in which the Rangers hit three posts, it was the Islanders who came out with aggressive determination. They dominated every aspect of the second outscoring the Rangers 3-0 and outshooting them by a healthy 19-12 margin to break it open.

They did it by winning faceoffs and continuing to take the play to their opponent who showed lethargy. The Rangers couldn’t keep up against a bigger, stronger rival who were quicker to every loose puck. The Islanders won all the key battles including rookie Anders Lee beating Dan Girardi in front to a rebound for his 11th from Calvin de Haan and Travis Hamonic. Previously, they had a Cal Clutterbuck goal waived off due to a correct ruling of ‘incidental contact’ on Casey Cizikas but were undeterred.

Nikolay Kulemin took full advantage of a costly turnover from J.T. Miller firing home his eighth to give the Isles a 2-0 lead with 3:29 left. Even when they were in the penalty box, good things happened. With Hamonic sitting for cross-checking, Frans Nielsen broke in and beat Henrik Lundqvist for a crushing shorthanded goal with 40.9 seconds remaining.

That took the wind out of the Rangers’ sails. With Alain Vigneault forced to shorten his bench due to a hand injury to Derek Stepan on an undetected Matt Martin slash, the Blueshirts tried their best but only managed six harmless shots on Jaroslav Halak in the third. Halak made 27 saves becoming the first Islander goalie to post a shutout win at MSG since Billy Smith on December 17, 1975. It was Halak’s fourth shutout. He’s 23-8-0 with a 2.22 goals-against-average and .917 save percentage. He would be a deserving All-Star replacement for injured Red Wings’ starter Jimmy Howard.

Considering that the lone Isles representative is captain John Tavares, it makes sense to add Halak who has been the backbone of the Long Island franchise’s resurgence. Full marks to GM Garth Snow for acquiring him last summer and getting him re-signed. Along with the no-brainer of adding veteran defensemen Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy last September, Snow has had a great year. He also signed Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski adding quality forward depth.

The development of super sophomores Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome have helped transform the Islanders into a contender. No longer is it all on Tavares or sidekick Kyle Okposo, who trails his linemate by two points for the team lead. Unlike past seasons, they expect to win and are approaching things differently. That includes improving to 2-0 at MSG with the next three meetings at Nassau Coliseum.

”For us, it’s about getting the two points. To play a team that is playing so well, and for them to come off the trip they came off, it gives the guys confidence that they can play against good hockey teams,” coach Jack Capuano said.

”We kept our heads on our shoulders and played our game,” Lee added. ”On the road you want to play a simple game and really wear them down.”

They executed to perfection. For the Rangers, they were out of sorts. They missed their chances in the first including an odd sequence where leading scorer Rick Nash made a great move and hit a post and Derick Brassard had a wide open net and hit another post. That was the kind of frustrating night it was.

“We couldn’t get out of our own end,” Nash said. “When we did, we couldn’t get it deep. We fed right into their game plan.”

“They definitely deserved to win,” Lundqvist stated after being pulled in favor of Cam Talbot for the third. “I thought I had it; I felt really good, made a lot of good saves, but when you do face that many scoring chances, some bad things are going to happen.”

The loss put the Rangers seven points behind the Islanders, whose 59 lead the Eastern Conference. They still have three games at hand and will see their nemesis again at the end of the month on Jan. 27. The remaining two are Feb. 16 and Mar. 10. All three at the Coliseum in its final season. A historic building full of nostalgia since the Isles’ inception. It has been a special rivalry but one lacking in recent years due to neither team being good at the same time. This time, that’s not the case which could mean the first playoff series between them since 1994.

It isn’t so bad that the Islanders dominated the first two at MSG. It means they’re finally back. With so much season left, there’s plenty to look forward to. If last night’s fireworks at the end with Dan Boyle socking Clutterbuck is any indication, the Battle Of New York will only intensify. Get your popcorn ready.