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

Tonight, the latest installment of the Battle Of New York takes place at Nassau Coliseum between the Rangers and Islanders. It’s a classic battle between bitter rivals. So far, the rivalry has been one sided. The Islanders have won all three meetings outscoring the Rangers 13-4.

After sweeping the first two at MSG by a combined 10-4, they defeated the Rangers 4-1 on Jan. 13. Only Carl Hagelin’s late goal prevented Jaroslav Halak from a second consecutive shutout. Halak enters tonight’s match with a 1.33 goals-against-average having allowed only four goals on 111 shots (.964 save percentage). This time, he’ll face Cam Talbot, who so far is 4-1-1 with a 2.67 GAA and .904 save percentage since taking over for injured starter Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist was treated rudely by the Isles permitting 13 goals on 97 shots. Talbot is 1-0-0 at the Coliseum making 22 saves in a 3-2 win on 10/29/13.

The difference so far has been the Islanders’ depth. They have gotten contributions from everyone. In the season series, they boast 11 different goalscorers compared to the Rangers’ 3. John Tavares and Mikhail Grabovski lead the Isles with two goals. Defenseman Johnny Boychuk has four points (1-3-4) and is plus-six. Only Rick Nash (2 goals), Hagelin and Derick Brassard have tallied for the Blueshirts. Illustrating the difference, top pair Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi are a combined minus-six while Marc Staal is also minus-three. No Ranger defenseman has registered a point while the Isles boast four- Boychuk (4), Travis Hamonic (2), Calvin de Haan (2) and Nick Leddy (1).

The story so far has been the Isles’ ability to dominate the neutral zone taking advantage of Rangers turnovers to establish their forecheck. They also have a huge advantage due to their fourth line of Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck. A physical trio that has given the Rangers fits. Coach Jack Capuano can confidently roll four lines. He also can take advantage of Alain Vigneault’s faith in fourth line Tanner Glass, Dominic Moore and Lee Stempniak. Look for him to expose that match-up. The Isles have also gotten good support from rookie Anders Lee and sophomore Ryan Strome. While Strome has hit a slump, Lee has 18 goals and is third among rookies. He also has a rookie high six game-winners.

Each team brings a winning streak into play. The Islanders have won four straight while the Rangers have reeled off three in a row. Neither has played great but found ways to win. The Isles lead the Metropolitan Division with 75 points in 56 games. They’re two up on Pittsburgh and four clear of the Rangers, who have 71 points in 54 games. Interestingly, they have one more regulation and overtime win (31) to the Isles’ 30. ROW is the first tiebreaker. So, if they can figure out how to beat the Islanders tonight and March 10, they can put themselves in better position.

They can at least feel better about themselves due to the emergence of rookie Kevin Hayes. He brings a three-game goal streak and a five-game point streak (3-4-7) into play. While Martin St. Louis has struggled badly without a goal in 10, the play of Hayes, Hagelin and J.T. Miller has given Vigneault a solid third line that can forecheck. They have dominated puck possession lately and been factors during the win streak. It is that line that could make a dent in the previously impenetrable Isles’ D.

Meanwhile, Nash continues to roll scoring his 35th in a 5-1 win at Arizona. He paces the team in scoring with 55 points (35-20-55) along with plus/minus (25), shorthanded goals (4) and game-winners (6). Nash has scored in 28 games. The Rangers record is 21-7-0 when he scores. When Nash tallies a point, they’re 26-8-3. Nash currently trails Alexander Ovechkin by one goal for the Rocket Richard. Ovechkin scored twice in the Caps’ win over Anaheim Sunday giving him a league-leading 36. Nash is tied for 10th in scoring with 55 points. He’s tied with Tyler Toffoli for the league lead in shorthanded goals (4) and ranks fourth in shots-on-goal (204).

Tavares leads the Islanders in scoring with 55 points including a team best 26 goals, 11 power play goals and 22 power play points. The Isles are still without assist leader Kyle Okposo, who’s on the mend with a detached retina. He still ranks second in team scoring with 44 points (14-30-44). The Isles boast tremendous balance with eight different players in double digits in goals including Lee (18), Brock Nelson (15), Nikolay Kulemin (11), Josh Bailey (11), Strome (10) and Frans Nielsen (10).

In his first year on Long Island, Halak boasts a 31-11-0 record with a 2.40 GAA, .912 save percentage and four shutouts. With a win tonight, he can tie the single season franchise record joining Billy Smith, Chris Osgood and Rick DiPietro.

For the Rangers, Dan Boyle is expected to return to the lineup after missing his 17th game. He’ll likely replace Matt Hunwick who had a bad game at Arizona. That means John Moore stays in and will pair up with Boyle. Jesper Fast (knee sprain) remains out. So, there shouldn’t be any other changes.

Rangers Lines

Kreider-Stepan-St. Louis

Nash-Brassard-Zuccarello

Hagelin-Hayes-Miller

Glass-D. Moore-Stempniak

McDonagh-Girardi

Staal-Klein

J. Moore-Boyle

Talbot

Skapski

As for the Islanders, it looks like Capuano will stick with the same lineup that’s had success during their win streak. De Haan remains out with a upper body injury. Michael Grabner will miss his fifth straight game. In one unsurprising move, they activated defenseman Matt Carkner and waived him. He cleared and was loaned to Bridgeport.

Islanders Lines

Lee-Tavares-Bailey

Grabovski-Nielsen-Strome

Kulemin-Nelson-Clutterbuck

Martin-Cizikas-McDonald

Leddy-Boychuk

Strait-Hamonic

Hickey-Visnovsky

Halak

Johnson