There is nothing “under the radar” about being in first place in the conference, having the inside track on the best record in the league and doing it with one of your sport’s leading candidates for MVP. Except, apparently, when the city in which you play is swept up in a basketball craze centered around the most unsung of heroes. These days, in New York, Lin-sanity trumps all.

But there’s a trend sweeping the hockey world that deserves more of this city’s attention: Lund-sanity, and the meteoric rise of the New York Rangers. The first-place, Eastern-Conference-leading, President’s-Trophy-chasing New York Rangers, led by netminder Henrik Lundqvist’s MVP-caliber year. Alright, maybe “Lund-sanity” doesn’t have the same ring. And sure, hockey isn’t at the top of everyone’s list in a city where the Yankees are king, the Knicks are in second and the football Giants are probably a close third. But it shouldn’t be about which sport is king. It should all be about The King – King Henrik Lundqvist, and his men.

Lin-sanity is incredible, inspirational and impressive. Lund-sanity is all that and more.

Nothing should be taken away from Jeremy Lin’s remarkable stretch, which has captivated a city and a country yearning for a Cinderella story in a sport where the rich get richer and those who fail to catch up are left in the wake. The sudden star has saved his coach’s job and a season headed in the wrong direction. But the Knicks, six-game winning streak and all, are still one game under .500 and in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. They are nine games behind the conference-leading Chicago Bulls.

The Rangers are tops in their conference, one point behind the league leading Detroit Red Wings and playing their best hockey of the season – maybe even their best hockey since June of 1994. While the Knicks needed a last-second three-point bucket to come from behind and defeat a cellar-dwelling team with a 9-21 record, the Rangers were on the road shutting out the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Knicks are barely hanging on to the final playoff spot. The Rangers – nine points ahead of second place in the conference – have a firm hold on the top one. It’s time for the sporting world, or at the very least the back pages, to take notice. The New York Rangers are without question, at the moment, the best team in this city. They might be the best team in their sport.

It’s starting to look like they might be the last one standing, too. And that success starts with Lundqvist. The Swedish netminder is playing at a level that has him at the forefront of the Vezina Trophy discussion. It’s earning him serious consideration for the Hart Trophy, too. Lundqvist is second in goals against average, first in save percentage and fourth in wins. Last night, he made 42 saves in the Rangers’ 3-0 win over the Boston Bruins, earning his league-leading seventh shutout. On a nightly basis, he is a rock in net, a steadying force for a team that has at times had trouble scoring goals, but almost never loses because the goaltender wasn’t on his game. He’s playing at a level previously unseen at the world’s most famous arena since Mike Richter donned the No. 35 jersey and played between the pipes for the Blueshirts.

King Henrik has been criticized in recent years for supposedly poor playoff performance. But that is due, in large part, to the fact that the Rangers have, for years, lacked the chemistry and continuity to be taken seriously in title discussions. Now, they have the pieces in front of him to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

So while Lundqvist is anchoring one of hockey’s best teams, the city is transfixed on the remarkable rise of a point guard trying to lead his team into the playoff picture. Sooner or later, New York needs to take notice of the Knicks’ Garden co-tenants. The ones that lead their league, the ones with one of their league’s best players. The spotlight deserves to shine on the ice, too.

Henrik Lundqvist stops Daniel Briere on a penalty shot.

In a thrilling game yesterday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, the New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers for the third time in as many meetings this season by a final score of 3-2 in the fifth annual Winter Classic. The Rangers went down 2-0, before two goals by Mike Rupp tied it up. Then late in the third period, off-season free agent signee Brad Brad Richards scored what turned out to be the game winning goal to secure the Rangers victory.

What made the game so exciting was the controversial ending. A controversy that despite a Rangers win, led Rangers head coach John Tortorella to yap after the game.

“I’m not sure if NBC got together with the refs and wanted to turn this into an overtime game,” Tortorella said after the game.

Here are my thoughts on the wild ending to the game:

• The Delay of Game penalty on McDonaugh was one of the worst I’ve seen in the history of the NHL. I don’t know how the referee could have possibly missed that.
• Even though with 4 seconds left on that powerplay, the referee blew the whistle when play CLEARLY should have continued; in a sense it evened things out because the Flyers didn’t deserve to be on that power play in the first place.
• Shortly after that Rangers forward Marian Gaborik broke in on Philadelphia net-minder Sergei Bobrovsky. Flyers’ defeseman Kimmo Timonen should have been called for hooking. Granted, I’m not a big fan of the hooking rule now-a-days, and I wish what Timonen did was ALWAYS legal, but based on what I’ve seen watching hockey (and I watch a lot), the referees should have absolutely called that a hooking. It was a textbook hook. I’ve seen much less called before.

When New York forward Ryan Callahan was taken down, the fact that they called a diving on Callahan as well was absurd for two reasons:

• Callahan had a hockey stick wrapped around his neck. I don’t care who you are as a human being (Chuck Norris, Jesus Christ, etc.), when someone wraps a stick around your neck and you are skating at full speed, it is going to bring you down to the ice every time.
• On the play earlier on the Flyers power play, when the ref blew the play dead, I don’t know if anyone noticed, but the ref actually stumbled on the ice which at that point was becoming horrific to play on. If the referee is falling down and he is untouched, then how can you blame Callahan for embellishing when he had a stick wrapped around his throat?

It was hard to tell if McDonagh put the hand over the puck in the crease. It wasn’t conclusive from any camera angles. I would be surprised if the ref was able to see clearly that the puck was covered.

Although it could be argued that Tortorella shouldn’t complain after a win, if he complained after a loss it would be looked at as “just another excuse.” Coaches should express complaints (especially if they are valid) win or lose.

Overall it was a very exciting game, and surely the bulk of fans are looking forward to the final installment of 24/7- which should be most enjoyable for the Rangers as well.

Anyone who watched HBO’s 24/7 special with the Rangers and the Flyers on Wednesday night was most likely very happy. HBO does a great job with these specials and they did a great job yet again.

Flyers fans love Hartnell in the hot tub, and they sure loved Ilya Bryzgalov. I was planning on killing a tiger in China during my winter break from Penn State, but the Philadelphia netminder informed me that, that would be a poor decision on my part. Even watching the Broadstreet Bullies breakout to Mac Miller was fun to see as well. (Fun Fact: The song sampled in that song is Linda Scott’s, “I’ve Told Every Little Star.” — A great song in my opinion and the reason it makes “Knock Knock” so catchy).

There were plenty of great moments from the Blueshirts as well whether it be the way the team decides who pays for dinner, or Ryan Callahan’s delightfully hilarious 95 year old grandmother.

You also have to love how non-American born players say English phrases. For example, Marion Gaborik who claimed that head coach John Tortorella doesn’t “go around bushes. He tells you how it is.”

Did anyone else love the look Sean Avery gave Artem Anisimov when Anisimov was sitting in the locker room all by his lonesome?

And obviously hearing the on ice and off ice conversation between coaches, players, trainers etc is a great inside look that everyone wishes they can see and hear during every game.

But I feel as though there was one thing missing. On November 26th of this year, the Rangers hosted the Flyers at Madison Square Garden. The show started with some clips from that game, including the fight that erupted just four seconds after the puck dropped. The narrator just spoke over the highlights, not mentioning that game in particular at all but more so just introducing the audience to what they were about to see: A behind the scenes look of the Flyers and the Rangers.

We saw some great on and off ice material as I mentioned above. But what happened during the Rangers/Flyers game? I feel that for a show centered around these two teams, the show should feature games between the two teams. What was being said on the ice during the Rangers/Flyers match-up? What was being said in-between periods in the locker room? Did HBO get any footage of the pre-game for that game? Why did a fight break out after just four seconds?

If I were to give the first episode a grade, it would be an A. I loved every minute of it. It was a fantastically produced special by HBO. The only thing keeping it from an A+ is the lack of detail between the Rangers/Flyers match-up that took place the Saturday after Thanksgiving. That seems like an important game to leave out.

Photo by Robert Kowal

The New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night, clearly placing themselves in a division battle with the 2 teams from Pennsylvania after 20+ games. They followed up back to back losses on the road with wins against Washington, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Limiting the output of 3 teams more gifted in the offense department is a strong statement from this defensive minded team.

Coach John Tortorella has his troops-in-blue playing to their strength, which is goaltending. Henrik Lundqvist is playing extremely well in net and continues to add to his regular season career totals. He added his 37th shutout as a Ranger with a 2-0 win over the Flyers last Saturday. That leaves him just 12 behind Eddie Giacomin’s team record of 49. Martin Biron has provided excellent relief as Hank’s backup posting a 3-1 record with a 1.68 GAA and a shutout of his own.

The defensive unit has made the biggest impact on this Ranger squad. Dan Girardi is continuing with the strong play he provided on the backline last year. He is attracting all-star consideration because of it, as evidenced by the amount of write-in votes he has received. Mike Sauer has got opponents taking notice of his stay-at-home, defense-first approach. Meanwhile, Michael Del Zotto’s defense and skating have improved as he has gotten back to playing the type of defense that made him an NHL all-rookie selection in 2010. D-Z, more importantly, has provided some key setups on the power play. The power play for the Rangers is a unit which, despite scoring goals in the last 3 games, has been a constant weak spot for the Blueshirts since the lockout of 2004-05. The X factor here, is the play of Ryan McDonagh. He has been more than anyone could have expected, making clutch plays every game. Ryan has been especially valuable in providing offense at even strength, with 8 of his 10 pts coming with equal manpower on the ice for both teams. This is also one of the reasons he leads the team in plus/minus at +11.

The Rangers are getting decent offensive production from Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards, each with 19 pts. They are getting the usual hard-working, lead-by-example play from their captain, Ryan Callahan. He has 16pts and 63 hits. The GAS line of Gaborik, Artem Anisimov and Derek Stepan might just stick together, as the trio has performed well with each member having 12+ pts at the 21 game mark.

The focus, however, has to be on the team defensive accomplishments as there are no individual scorers amongst the top 30 in the NHL. The Rangers are 13-5-3 heading into tonights road matchup with Carolina, because they have yielded an NHL low 44 goals in 21 games and are in the top 3 in goals allowed per game, with a 2.06 GAA.

After starting the season with 21 games during the first 2 months, they play 15 games in December, starting tonight with the Hurricanes. The goal should be to get through it with a 10-5 record. I wrote before the season that the Rangers needed to be dominant at home, that top level teams win on home ice. You have read in other spots how the Rangers are 7-1-1 at home for the first time since the 1992-93 season. That is a great way to start. What others have not told you and I will, is that 92-93 squad lost its last 7 home games and last 7 games overall and finshed in last place in the division. Its a long season and every game counts. They started strong, which is important for a young team. Now lets see how they work through the next 3 months before we focus on finishing strong.

They are not a fast team and get muscled off the puck too much at times, but they block shots, take the body and play good defense. Even more important, they play as a team.
That is a great start.

Photo by Robert Kowal

While no one expected the Islanders to have a shot at the Stanley Cup this season, many were hopeful the team would make a legitimate run at a playoff spot. The teams’ strong finish to last season gave management and fans alike something to look forward to. Key defenseman Mark Streit was returning to the lineup, in addition to a healthy Kyle Okposo. Assistant captain John Tavares had a full season under his belt, and a young core that included Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau also had another year of experience. Throw in some veteran leadership with the likes of Brian Rolston, Jay Pandolfo and Marty Reasoner- and the Islanders seemed ready to take that next step heading into the season, and no longer be a doormat for opposing teams.

What the hell happened?

Just 18 games into the season, the Islanders find themselves in yet another free fall similar to last season. The Islanders are now in the midst of a 2-12-0 tailspin in which they have been outscored 65-24. The team has been outscored 12-0 in their last 7 periods of play, and were embarrassed in front of a national audience last night in Pittsburgh when Sidney Crosby returned to action. Needless to say, the Islanders have been downright dreadful.

Who’s to blame? Management? The coaching staff? The players? Truth is, all have some responsibility for the team’s performance thus far. More importantly, what needs to be done to fix this mess? Trading some draft picks for Alex Ovechkin would be nice, but unfortunately Washington Capitals GM George McPhee will not likely go for that. So the question then becomes: What can be done? Remaining positive is not going to be enough. Many believe heads need to roll.

While GM Garth Snow didn’t exactly have a great off-season, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the ax to fall on him. Garth has had a tough job attracting free agents, and probably relied a bit to much on the development of his young players heading into the season. Still, when was the last time Snow has made a deal of significance to impact the team?

Do the Islanders fire their head coach again? Current head coach Jack Capuano seemed to have the team turned around last year after taking over for Scott Gordon, particularly late in the season. The players responded well to Capuano’s approach behind the bench, which was much different than Gordon’s. Has the team now tuned him out as well? Under the circumstances, I think Jack has done a fine job and deserves to stay. Who do you replace him with anyway?

The leaders in the locker room must start taking responsibility for the teams recent lackluster play- and take action to correct it.  Tavares can’t do it all by himself. The veteran leaders on this team that contribute much less on the ice need to start showing their worth, or be shown the door.

The Islanders young core of players were supposed to take the next step in their development this season. Many are not doing their part. The most maligned culprits include Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau and Josh Bailey. Between the three of them, they have played in 48 games and have only a single goal and 5 assists to show for it. Most nights they’ve been practically invisible on the ice. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

What’s been most disturbing has been the Islanders recent uninspired play. The team has lost some spirit and toughness with the departures of Zenon Konopka to Ottawa, and the demotions of both Michael Haley and Trevor Gillies to Bridgeport. While no one is making them out to be world beaters, the Islanders do seem to be missing some of the intangibles these guys brought to the table.

Some scoring help wouldn’t hurt either. I guess you could say that for most teams, but 35 goals in 18 games (last in the league) is just not going to cut it. Okposo, Comeau and Bailey were being counted on in a big way to fill the net this season, and have been the biggest disappointments on the ice for the team. I like all of these guys, and think they possess a lot of talent. I honestly don’t know why they have been unable to produce. Nevertheless, the time has come to shake up this Islanders roster, and a change of scenery for some might be best.

The time is now for Garth to earn his paycheck. It’s still early, but the clock is already ticking on the Islanders season.

Photo by Robert Kowal

When Rangers GM Glen Sather sent Scott Gomez to the Montreal Canadiens back in 2009, many though he did well in receiving Christopher Higgins in return. The complete deal saw the Rangers send Gomez, along with Tom Pyatt and Mike Busto to Montreal for Higgins, Doug Janik, Pavel Valentenko- and Ryan McDonagh. I wouldn’t imagine to many people saw McDonagh as anything more than a throw in at the time. Give credit to Sather for having done his homework.

Drafted by the Canadiens in the 1st round (12th overall) in 2007, McDonagh was a highly touted offensive defenseman with an ability to rush the puck at Wisconsin, where he was a teammate of Derek Stepan. Prior to that, he was given the Minnesota “Mr. Hockey” award in 2007- an award given each year to the top senior high school hockey player in the state. Many kids have talent at the high school and college level. However, it doesn’t always pan out at the NHL level. Even Hobey Baker award winners (given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s ice hockey player each year) don’t always make it to the NHL- let alone become a star at that level.

Now, I don’t want to get carried away here- I’m not saying McDonagh is the next coming of Chris Chelios- one of Ryan’s favorite players growing up. Still, McDonagh has been all the Rangers could have hoped for this season.

At the start of last year, Ryan began the year in Hartford with the WolfPack before being promoted in January. He finished the season with a goal and 8 assists in 40 games. His lone goal coming on the last day of the regular season against the Devils, scoring the game winning goal to clinch the 8th and final playoff spot for the Rangers.

This season, with Rangers defenseman Marc Staal out of the lineup with a concussion, McDonagh has seized the opportunity. Averaging over 25 minutes a game, he is second on the team only to Dan Girardi. This from a guy that less than 2 years ago was playing college hockey. Making that jump to the NHL (especially as a defenseman) is not an easy thing to do, just ask Matt Gilroy.

McDonagh has typically relied on his speed and skating ability, which can often make up for any defensive lapses. While he still has a ways to go, McDonagh continues to show improvement and could emerge as one of the best young defenseman in the league.

We took the metro from her campus to the Verizon Center. $2 ride in a very well-organized and clean subway… about 20 minutes including a  train transfer.

Okay… Here’s what I saw..

Verizon Center:
Bright building with great site lines and seemingly many more lower level seats than in NJ.. only one row of luxury boxes, meaning better seating above the boxes. There were numerous restaurants in the arena and the food stands around the mezzanine really had character and themes (unlike the Generic City Grill in EWR).. many different kinds of food and lots of shops with Caps merchandise, people selling stuff all over… just a great atmosphere.. There are many video boards with stats that you can see from your seat. The PA address announcer was fantastic and made me realize how lame our guy is. Their mascot is an Eagle and the costume was really poor.. he looked more like a chicken..NJ Devil is way better.

The fans were great. Most dressed in Jerseys.. they are Ovechkin crazy there of course. The chanted at the same time (with chants and timing that only they knew) and there were really into the game.. and it was a complete sell-out… they rooted for their team but were extremely polite to me and my daughters. I sat 4 rows back in-between the blue line and the goal on the end the Devils attacked twice. We were the only Devils’ fans for 20 yards in every directions. Fans were helpful and courteous.. even direct us to the best place to sit for warm–ups to watch the Devils.

Warm-Ups:
We were right against the glass to watch warm-ups… best Moments were Andy Greene who smiled at my daughter who was wearing his Jersey… Tedenby who gave 2 of them  a big tooth-less smile… I knew that look at my daughters.. time to open up a can of whoop-ass on him. And then there was Marty who skate right by and actually smiled  and nodded at us; I knew then he wasn’t playing in the game.. he was very relaxed… the best part of the Warm-up was Clarkson who nodded at me and them proceeded to shot the puck into the glass right at me 3 times during warm-ups and slammed the glass at me twice… he looked like a caged animal trying to get at something..lol… his pre-game intensity carried over into the game…more later on this.

The Game:
Well you all saw the game so I’l only add stuff you see from the glass…
Parise: You can see the frustration on his face… he is trying very hard but is squeezing that stick way to hard
Elias: You can see the fear in the other team when he has the puck.. almost a panic.. he plays hockey with his head up and looking far a head.
Salavdor: he had a heck of a game… very physical..really well-positioned
Fayne: Shadowing Ovechkin.. blocked shots every tome he could.. was very physical too
Carter: Great call Coach DeBoer.. he is way better than Pelley
Clarkson: For me the biggest surprise.. I have never been a fan of his..well I am now. He was truly intimidating… he smashed several Caps into the glass right in front of me and you could see how the Caps were avoiding him… his presence and intensity of course were rewarded in the end with the winning Shoot-Out Goal… Like DeBoer said.. guys that can fight, hit and score are hard to find and you are lucky when you have one.

The best part about all of this is my daughter has 4 more years in DC!

After starting the season with a 7 game road trip and about a month away from home, The New York Rangers return to Madison Square Garden tonight.

The Rangers, because of renovations to MSG, will be the last of 30 NHL teams to play a home opener when they face-off against the Toronto Maple Leafs in an original six matchup.

They salvaged one point in each of the 2 games played in Henrik Lundqvist’s home country of Sweden, losing in a shootout to the Anaheim Ducks and then losing in overtime to the Los Angeles Kings. After losing to the Islanders during a pit stop back in New York, they toured western Canada and took 3 out of 4 games in battles against Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg with the only loss coming against the Oilers.

Considering the fact that they were missing 2 of their top 4 defensemen from a year ago, Marc Staal and Michael Sauer, and only managed 14 goals in 7 games, the Rangers did pretty good gettting through a tough mission with a 3-2-2 record. They are a slow team compared with most top NHL teams and are not a very good puck possession unit as was evident in the majority of their first seven games. The power has been extremely poor since the lockout and started out the same way this season, despite the addition of Brad Richards, having gone 3 for 28 so far. To combat the fact that they have been one of the more penalized teams so far, they have performed fairly well in killing them off.

The obvious reason for the successful trip was the outstanding goaltending the blueshirts got from Lundqvist. Martin Biron, the backup, also contributed with a tremendous effort in the last game of the lengthy excursion. His 27 saves helped preserve a 2-1 win, in which the Rangers actually scored 2 power play goals despite generating only 17 shots the entire game, and had the Rangers heading home with a winning record.

Home ice advantage is suppose to be just that, an advantage. The last 2 seasons the Rangers have lost 17 games in regulation(shootout and OT losses are like ties) alone which has been a big factor in them missing the playoffs in 2010 and making it as a 8th seed last year. It was’nt the only reason, just look at their power play efficiency, but a significant one. How about this, it may be the most important one.

The last 4 out 6 years, since the lockout of 2004-05, the Stanley Cup champion has been at least 20 games over .500 at home. The years since the lockout are used because now winning by shootout is an added way to secure a win. Even if you avoid the topic of winning a championship since the Rangers are building from within, for the most part, and trying to develop their young players into a title contending unit, winning at home is a must. Battling for the 6,7 and 8th playoff spots is not a recipe for success. However, this is what the Rangers have been faced with the last 6 years following yearly absence from the playoffs the previous 7 NHL seasons. You need home ice in the playoffs and the Rangers have’nt started a series at home since 1996.

The “World’s Most Famous Arena” is suppose to be that, and a place for the home team to build up wins and send a message to those who enter. Instead, its like the circus is in town(Rangers) and the visiting team is there for a good time a road win.

The Garden has been partially renovated, as it will take 3 years for the completion of the project. The Rangers performance on home ice needs to be fully renovated beginning tonight at 7:00 p.m. They have 6 games in a row at MSG to give the faithful fans of the blueshirts a preview of what the season will be like in Rangerville. More importantly, a chance to take a long road trip with decent results, add 4 or 5 wins and make it a great start to the season after 1 month of play.

By the way, the last time the Rangers were 20 games over .500 at home was the 1993-94 season.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – The Islanders came into last nights game against the Pittsburgh Penguins looking to get things going after 2 tough losses in Florida to the Lightning and Panthers, but were shutout 3-0 in front of 10,681 fans at the Nassau Coliseum.

Within the first minute of play Penguins goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury stopped P.A. Parenteau. Soon after a Kyle Okposo’s blast from in front of the net was blocked by Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland. It was a sign of things to come: big saves and blocked shots by the Penguins. Fleury ended the game stopping all 33 shots he faced, while the Pens blocked an additional 26 thrown at the net by the Islanders.

Despite a first period that saw the Islanders skate well and outshoot the Penguins by a 13-7 margin, the Islanders just couldn’t break through on Fleury. The Islanders second line of Grabner-Nielsen-Okposo were moving the puck well in the period, generating some chances- but were just unable to find the back of the net.

“I’m sure its frustrating for them, not getting the results they want,” head coach Jack Capuano said after the game. When commenting on the rest of the team, Capuano said “The guys worked hard and created some offense.”

Brooks Orpick sprung a streaking Pascal Dupuis up the middle on a breakaway at 17:06 of the opening frame, who beat goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to the stick side giving the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Nabokov started for third time in four games, and was backed up by Rick DiPietro- who apparently has recovered from a concussion sustained in practice October 12th when he took a shot to the mask.

“He gave us a chance to win the game,” Capuano said, when refering to his starting goaltender last night.

Former Islander Richard Park scored 0:21 seconds into the 2nd period off a feed from another former Islander, Arron Asham- taking the wind out the Islanders sails. Jordan Staal would later ice the game scoring an empty net goal with 2:00 to go in the final period.

Despite being without captain Sidney Crosby and Tyler Kennedy to concussions, as well as defensemen Zbynek Michalek (broken finger) and Brian Strait (hyperextended elbow), the Penguins played solid hockey all night. Evgeni Malkin, who had missed five straight games with knee soreness, returned to action and played well, registering 3 shots on goal.

The Islanders did have 2 power plays in the game, both in the 2nd period- but were unable to break through, getting only 2 shots to the net with the man advantage. Still, the team did generate several good scoring chances in the contest. John Tavares, who had 4 shots in the game, felt the team played much better than on their recent road trip.

“Guys were skating well and forechecking much better” he said, “we had a lot of chances.”

The Islanders, who have now lost three in a row, drop to 3-4-0 on the season. The team will have a chance to turn things around on Thursday when they take on the Penguins again in Pittsburgh.

Postgame Audio Clips
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Among the guests on my show last night was Jiggs McDonald, one of hockey’s all-time great hockey broadcasters. It’s always a pleasure to get a chance to speak with Jiggs, and a treat for myself and many longtime Islanders fans when we get to hear him call the action. Last night Jigg’s informed us that he will be broadcasting 9 games for the Islanders this season, all of which will be on the road.

Jiggs only visit to the Nassau Coliseum will come on November 19th, when the Islanders take on the Boston Bruins. The Islanders will honor Ed Westfall on that night as a part of their “Decade Nights” taking place throughout the season. While Jiggs will not be in the broadcast booth that evening, he will MC the pre-game festivities honoring Westfall, who sat beside him on Islanders telecasts for many years.

Here’s the list of Islanders games Jiggs will be calling the play-by-play for this season:

 
Follow Rob on Twitter @nyhockeytalk.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – A sold out crowd at the Nassau Coliseum last night watched a budding superstar in New York Islanders forward John Tavares score a hat-trick in leading his team to a 4-2 victory over their division rival New York Rangers.

In the first of six meetings this season between these two teams, Islanders head coach Jack Capuano raised a few eyebrows turning to goaltender Evgeni Nabokov for start, in place of Al Montoya- who has played well in each of his 3 starts this young season. The move paid off, as Nabokov turned away 29 of 31 shots in the victory, including 13 of 14 in the first period.

“It was a boost to play in front of a packed house,” Nabokov said after the game.

The Islanders speed up front gave the Rangers depleted defense problems right from the start. However, the star of the game undoubtedly was Tavares. Not exactly known for his speed, Tavares worked hard on his skating this off-season, and has been moving well not only in the offensive zone, but all over the ice. After breaking out for 2 goals and 2 assists in a 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, Tavares picked up right where he left off, assisting on a goal by linemate Matt Moulson to open the scoring in the first period. Tavares went on to score a goal in the 2nd, followed by two in the third (including an empty netter) for the hat-trick, leading the Islanders to their third straight victory of the season.

“You’re not going to say no to production like that,” Tavares said. “It’s nice to produce, it’s what I do best.”

While Rangers head coach John Tortorella had been preaching disclipline after the teams first two games, the team apparently did not get the message as his team commited eight minor penalties in the contest. While some of the calls may have been questionable, he was in no mood for excuses following the game.

“We’re not going to sit here and pick apart penalties. We’re in the box too much,” Tortorella said. “We’re not gonna sit here and gripe about what is and what isn’t a penalty. We simply have to be more disciplined.”

Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist agreed.

“There were a couple of times where we kind of took over the game, but unfortunately we took a few penalties and it kind of killed that momentum that we had,” he said. “We have to work even harder to be more disciplined out there.”

On the positive side for the Rangers, their top line of Stepan-Richards-Gaborik played extremely well when afforded 5 on 5 play. Gaborik in particular was all over the ice, and is clearly developing some nice chemistry with his linemates.

The rivalry between these teams was alive and well last night. Both teams are on the rise, and quite possibly will be battling each other for a playoff spot. The quality of play, intensity and excitement of these games should only get better.

The Islanders and Rangers face off this evening at the Nassau Coliseum, the first of six meetings between the teams this season, and the first of three meetings at the Coliseum. While the Rangers are searching for their first win of the season after an 0-0-2 road trip overseas, the Islanders come into the game having won 2 straight, after a 2-0 loss to the Panthers in their season home opener.

The young guns have led the way for both teams early on, and it will likely have to continue if they want to reach the playoffs this season. The Rangers new captain Ryan Callahan finished their season opener against the Kings with 11 shots on goal, while leading all team forwards with 20:30 of ice time in a 3-2 overtime loss. The last Ranger to register at least 11 shots in a game was Brendan Shanahan (12 shots) back on April 4th, 2008 vs. the Islanders. The Rangers 2004 fourth round pick has been skating with his usual hustle and tenacity right out of the gate. Meanwhile, the Islanders 2009 first round pick (1st overall) John Tavares broke out with 2 goals and 2 assists in the first period in the Islanders 5-1 thrashing of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night- an impressive performance by the Islanders.

Make no mistake, there is a lot of firepower in the Islanders mostly young lineup. Coach Jack Capuano’s decision to go with goaltender Al Montoya early is already paying dividends. The former Rangers first round pick in 2004 (6th overall) brings a 2-1-0 record into the game, along with a 1.35 GAA and a .953 save percentage. More importantly, Capuano has sent a message to his team that performance on the ice will matter more than the size of your contract or how long you have been in the league. While many coaches preach this, most don’t follow through. Capuano has thus far, and I’d expect that to continue. Refreshing indeed. The Islanders will likely go with the same lineup tonight.

The Rangers feature off-season free agent signing Brad Richards, providing goal scorer Marian Gaborik with an elite centerman. While Richards leads the NHL with a 79.2% faceoff winning percentage (19-24) in the early going- the Rangers certainly expect him to light up the scoreboard as well. Meanwhile, home grown talents Dan Girardi, Brandon Dubinsky and captain Ryan Callahan will be expected to shoulder a lot of ice time. The Rangers defense will be tested tonight and throughout the season, especially with Marc Staal on the shelf. Tortorella isn’t afraid to shake the forward lines up, so you can pretty much count on that tonight- especially if the Rangers have any trouble finding the net. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist should get the start- he has been solid, going 0-0-2 with a 1.86 GAA and a .931 save percentage. The Rangers haven’t played in a week, so I’m sure they will be revved up to hit the ice.

I expect an exciting game tonight. The Islanders are coming off a big win Wednesday night, and will be looking to keep it going. The Rangers need to be mindful of not coming out flat- sometimes it can be tough to get the wheels going after a long layoff.  Who do I like to win it? That’s easy, New York!

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Islanders Notes
The Islanders were 2-4-0 against the Rangers in 2010-11, including a 2-1-0 mark at home… The Islanders have played the same 18 skaters and Al Montoya in all three games this season… The Islanders are 14-for-15 on the penalty kill this season (93.3%)… Matt Moulson’s games-played streak stands at 167, he has yet to miss a game in his Islanders career… Travis Hamonic has now played 65 consecutive NHL games, the longest consecutive game streak on defense for the Isles… Jay Pandolfo is one goal shy of his 100th…Michael Grabner is one game shy of his 100th NHL contest…

Rangers Notes
The Blueshirts were 4-2-0 against the Islanders in 2010-11, including a 1-2-0 mark on the road… The Rangers lead the league with a 57.9% faceoff winning percentage, winning 66-of-114 faceoff attempts this season… Rangers are 10-for-11 on the penalty kill this season (90.9%)… The Blueshirts were the only team in the NHL who were undefeated when leading after two periods last season, posting a record of 29-0-0 in those contests… Brad Richards is 3 assists shy of his 500th… Brandon Prust is one game shy of his 200th NHL contest… Mike Rupp is one game shy of his 500th NHL contest…