Isles Down Rangers, Move Into First Place
November 7th, 2007 by Tom
You read that right. The Islanders overcame two third period deficits to down the Rangers 3-2 last night at the Coliseum. The win gives the Isles an 8-4 record and a tie for first place with the Philadelphia Flyers with 16 points. The Flyers have played one more game than the Isles.
While first place is nice, it’s a little early in the season to get excited about it. But it’s not too early to get revved about a come from behind win against a hot Ranger team that had won four straight. It was also nice to see the Islanders bring Henrik Lundqvist back to earth. The Ranger netminder had posted seven straight periods of shutout hockey and had notched four shutouts in 14 games this season. Not last night.
For the second time in as many games, Miro Satan put the Isles ahead to stay with a late goal. The Islanders also got goals from Trent Hunter and Ruslan Fedotenko.
The game featured some outrageous goaltending on both sides. Rick Di Pietro put on a show in the third period, denying a barrage of Ranger chances to keep the Isles in the lead. This was truly a team victory.
And while it’s still just Nov. 7, you can never discount wins over divisional rivals. Last night’s victory was big. The Islanders are rolling. They need to keep it up.
