RANGERS 3, ISLANDERS 0 Islanders end home schedule with loss to their cross-river rivals

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A sellout crowd of 16,234 at the Nassau Coliseum watched the Islanders finish their home schedule with a 3-0 loss to the Rangers, Thursday night. 

Jaromir Jagr scored two power play goals, while Henrik Lundqvist made 25 saves for his tenth shutout of the season. Both of Jagr's goals came in the first period and via a one-timer past Wade Dubielewicz, who stopped 32 shots in the losing effort.

"You look at the experience of one team and you can only say so much about effort," said head coach Ted Nolan. "The effort was there. The guys competed and tried hard, but it comes down to experience, and you're going to have some breakdowns against an experienced club."

Added Kyle Okposo, who played in his first Islanders-Rangers game: "I thought the intensity was pretty high out there. It was a little bit more than I've seen so far."

The Rangers went 2-for-6 on the man-advantage, while the Islanders failed to score on their two power play opportunities. The Rangers clinched the playoffs with the win.

With 6:09 remaining in the first period, Jagr scored off a one-timer while on the power play to put the Rangers up 1-0. Jagr scored once again on a one-timer with 4:10 remaining in the first period with the Rangers on another power play.

Martin Straka ripped a one-timer from the point past Dubielewicz for a 3-0 lead, 7:39 into the third period for a 3-0 Rangers advantage.

Jack Hillen played in his first NHL game, suiting up on the Islanders' defense.

"He handled himself well, but he definitely needs some seasoning," said Nolan. "We're not going to judge a kid too heavily after being thrown into a game against the Rangers right from college hockey. He looks like he some good upside to him."

The Islanders finish their season at Madison Square Garden, tomorrow against the Rangers.

Five Stars of the Game
1. Jaromir Jagr: Two PP goals on five shots, +1
2. Henrik Lundqvist: First career shutout against the Islanders
3. Martin Straka: Goal, assist, +1
4. Brandon Dubinsky: Two assists
5. Kyle Okposo: Worked hard on the Islanders' best line of the game - Park-Okposo-Comeau

Stat of the Game: The Islanders finished their home record at 18-18-5

Slapshots: Wade Dubielewicz dropped to 2-2-0 all-time against the Rangers…The Islanders are 7-4-1 in sellouts this season…For the first time since 1992-93, the Islanders and Rangers played two home-and-home series in the same season.

Fan of the Game: Mark and Gaby from White Plains came to the coliseum to get the Rangers/Islanders experience, which was "one of kind," according to Mark.

Game Operations: The Game Ops department started off the game presentation with a masterful season recap video for the season's final home game…The Color Guard was the 1st Marine Core District Color Guard Team…During the first period, a check for $7,955 was given to the Islanders Children's Foundation, represented by Chris Dey, the Islanders' Senior VP of Sales, Marketing and Operations from Bethpage Federal Credit Union. BFCU donated five dollars for every check the Islanders accumulated over the season. Presenting the check was Kirk Kordelski, the President and CEO and Linda Armyn, the Vice President of Corporate Development…For one final time the American Airlines Final Destination Toss took place during the second intermission. A lucky contestant won a trip to Memphis.



ISLANDERS
Goaltenders
34 Wade Dubielewicz
33 Mike Morrison

Defensemen
44 Freddy Meyer - 24 Radek Martinek
38 Jack Hillen - 3   Rob Davison
4   Bryan Berard – 49 Drew Fata

Forwards
20 Sean Bergenheim – 63 Josef Vasicek - 13 Bill Guerin
81 Miroslav Satan - 51 Frans Nielsen - 7 Trent Hunter
57 Blake Comeau – 10 Richard Park – 21 Kyle Okposo
37 Kip Brennan – 72 Jeremy Colliton – 27 Matt Keith

RANGERS
Goaltenders
30 Henrik Lundqvist
40 Stephen Valiquette

Defensemen
27 Paul Mara - 55 Christian Backman
18 Marc Staal - 3   Michal Rozsiva
5   Daniel Girardi - 51 Fedor Tyutin

Forwards
82 Martin Straka - 17 Brandon Dubinsky - 68 Jaromir Jagr
16 Sean Avery - 19 Scott Gomez - 25 Petr Prucha
10 Nigel Dawes - 23 Chris Drury - 24 Ryan Callahan
34 Jason Strudwick – 44 Ryan Hollweg - 20 Fredrik Sjostrom


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