Battle Of Hudson

Rick Dipietro should be well enough to play tonight.
Yes Chris Simon will in the lineup as well so look for Colton Orr and Simon to have a go tonight.
The Islanders called up Tim Jackman for tonight’s game. He is taking Aaron Johnson spot between Ben Walter and Simon. Jackman will add some toughness to the Isles while Orr, Hollweg and Avery are out there.

The first game was hyped up pretty big, but that was without Simon in the lineup. Look for tonight’s game to be different. Both teams do NOT lack toughness and Im sure some sparks will fly tonight.

Hooray! Mike “Doc” Emrick will be calling tonight’s Rangers-Islanders game with Brian Engblom and Billy Jaffe on VERSUS.

Bill Patrick, Keith Jones and Eddie Olczyk in the studio.

Why? Olczyk’s obviously better than Engblom.

I’m killing two birds with one stone here. First, last night’s game against the Flyers.

– When the Rangers play 60 minutes of solid hockey, I don’t know what team can beat them. They played all of last night’s game with only a few mental gaffes. They won’t need to score more that two goals a game if they can be as mentally sharp in every other facet of the game like last night.

– Sean Avery is a legitimate spark plug. He didn’t have to fight anyone, but he did. It got the Garden rocking, gave the Rangers some passion and may have taken the uber physical Flyers off guard. Many people may not agree with the way he plays the game, myself sometimes included, but he brings a team together, whether they like it or not.

– The line combinations are finally working out. Who cares if the first line center isn’t making over 7 million dollars a year. If it works, Chris Drury can play on the third line the rest of the year.

Now for tonight’s game. I agree with IsleEnforcer, it should be one hell of a game. Passion will undoubtedly be running high tonight. Some info for tonight:

– It looks like King Henrik will be in net again. At this rate, Henrik’s next day off may be in June. He said he wanted to go, and Tom Renney has to like what he sees, so he’ll be in net.

– Jaromir Jagr will skate, despite playing through a sore hamstring. Should some unforeseen circumstance force him out of the lineup, Greg Moore is up from Hartford.

– Marek Malik will sit again tonight. At this point, why not try to trade him. Save the room on payroll and go with Jason Strudwick. He’s not a fancy defenseman, but teams just aren’t scoring on the Rangers right now, and Lundqvist as great as he is playing, doesn’t get all the credit. The defense is blocking shots, taking away passing lanes, playing physical and jumping into the play. It’s fun to watch.

– Not 100% sure, but you would have to think that Chris Simon is in for the Islanders. Could get a little more exciting than it is already if he is.

I have a soccer game tonight during the game, but I will watch after and chime in with my post game thoughts. Enjoy, this is hockey at its finest.

I will be at tonight’s game so my thoughts will be posted late tonight.

Just a few notes:

* Sean Bergenheim is out tonight, Ben Walter will take his place.
* Aaron Johnson injured his knee in practice and will be out 6 weeks. At the present time we are still awaiting a call up from Bridgeport.
* Rick Dipietro should be okay to play tonight.

The Islanders are coming off two emotional wins and the Rangers are coming off 2-0 shutout of the first place Flyers. As it stands right now, the Rangers moved a head of the Islanders last night for second place. Should be one hell of a game tonight.

Very few words. Just a blah game.

More later

Big game for the Devils tonight, back in front of the home crowd, let’s see if the scoring picks up again.

Enjoy it.

Rangers take on the first place Flyers tonight, and may immediately be at a disadvantage. Jaromir Jagr did not skate this morning, saying his groin was still sore from Saturday’s game. Greg Moore was recalled from Hartford and both he and Jagr will skate in the pregame warmups, just incase Jagr can’t go.

If Jagr plays, the lines are expected to be the same as Saturday, with Dubinsky between Jagr and Hossa, Gomez with Prucha and Shanahan and Drury with Avery and Dawes. Betts with Hollweg and Orr is also a lock.

If Jagr doesn’t play, those lines will be all kinds of jumbled. Honestly, I don’t know what I would expect. Maybe Prucha with Dubinsky and Shanahan. Maybe the lines just change order.

No matter what, Jason Strudwick will be back in the lineup, taking Marek Malik’s spot on defense. Malik is still nursing sore ribs and a sore back. If the defense plays well again without him, you have to wonder if there isn’t a team out there willing to take his salary on in a trade.

Also, Stephen Valiquette was supposedly going to start one of these back to back games, but Tom Renney said before the game that he would determine whether Henrik Lundqvist starts tomorrow night at the Islanders based on how he feels after tonight’s game.

Back with a recap later on tonight.

Matvichuk is off the Devs roster, but that could’ve happened already.

Now HockeyBuz is reporting that the Devils have waived Matvichuk.

Oh well, happy trails Richard.

Al Arbour stood behind the bench one last time [maybe] and the Islanders did not let him down as they upset the Pittsburgh Penguins with a come from behind win 3-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Bobby Nystrom, Clark Gillies and Billy Smith were a part of the pregame ceremonies to help congratulate their mentor; Al Arbour achieve yet another milestone. Al Arbour has now coached 1500 games, the most for any coach in NHL history with one team.

It looked great before the game but started to get ugly as Pittsburgh was up 2-0 midway through the second period. Trent Hunter got the Isles on the board with his 3rd goal of the season.

As things started to look up, Rick Dipietro went down….with what could have been a serious eye injury as that no good piece of trash, Sidney Crosby, tried to lift the stick of an Islander defenseman and inadvertently stuck DP in the face through his mask. Dipietro was taken out of the game and sent to the hospital with what initially was reported as a “lacerated cornea.” Dipietro was replaced by Wade Dubieliewicz and Dubie held his own by making 7 saves.

As Arbour was the hero tonight, he would share the spotlight with one Miro Satan who scored the tying goal early in the third. Satan would catch an easy rebound to score his second of the game, and third of the season late in the third period. That goal would stand up as the Isles came out with one of the most important wins for them in this early season.

After the game the Islanders celebrated more by taking down Arbour’s 739 wins banner and replacing it with a 740 one. They also raised a 1500 banner as well and had a huge celebration on the ice.

With Dipietro’s health in doubt, the Rangers skate into the Coliesium on Tuesday….

NYR 2-1 NJ (SO)
NYR: Gomez (3), Prucha (SO Winner)
NJ: Brylin (2)
ATT: 18,200 (18,200)

PIT 2-3 NYI
PIT: Malone (3), Kennedy (1st NHL Goal)
NYI: Hunter (3), Satan (2,3[GW])
ATT: 16,234 (16,234)

TOR 3-2 MTL
TOR: Kaberle (5), Sundin (8), Stajan (4, GW)
MTL: Komisarek (1), Higgins (6)
ATT: 21,273 (21,273)

BOS 2-3 OTT
BOS: Kobasew (4, 5)
OTT: Fisher (4, 5 [GW]), Heatley (8)
ATT: 19,939 (19,153)

FLA 2-4 CAR
FLA: Bouwmeester (2), Zednik (6)
CAR: Cullen (4), Larose (3), Letowski (2, GW), Stillman (5)
ATT: 17,547 (18,730)

ATL 6-4 TB
ATL: Enstrom (2), Kovalchuk (10, 11, 12), Hossa (3), Dupuis (2, GW)
TB: O’Brien (1, 2), Ouelett (3), Richards (6)
ATT: 19,155 (19,500)

CGY 1-4 MIN
CGY: Iginla (9)
MIN: Rolston (7), Gaborik (3 [GW], 4), Radivojevic (1)
ATT: 18,568 (18,064)

CHI 3-2 STL
CHI: Byfuglien (1st NHL Goal), Sharp (4, 5 [GW])
STL: Perron (1st NHL Goal), Kariya (3)
ATT: 19,150 (19,150)

ANA 5-2 PHX
ANA: Schneider (1), Perry (7, 8), May (1, GW), Getzlaf (4)
PHX: Vrbata (4), Jovonovski (1)
ATT: 15,888 (17,799)

VAN 4-3 COL
VAN: D. Sedin (6, 7 [GW]), Morrison (5), Kesler (3)
COL: Finger (1st NHL Goal), Svatos (6, 7)
ATT: 18,007 (18,007)

SJ 3-1 LA
SJ: Pavelski (3), Roenick (4, GW, #499), Cheechoo (3)
LA: Stuart (2)
ATT: 18,118 (18,118)