NEW YORK – The “just another game” thing is one of hockey’s hokiest clichés, and it’s amusing to see the New York Islanders attempt to convince themselves that their victory over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night was that ordinary.
“For us, it’s not a lot of hype,” said coach Jack Capuano.
Sure Jack. It’s not like this one of the only meaningful games the rivals have played in the last 20 years, with the Islanders moving to 59 points and maintaining their Metro Division lead, and with the Rangers (52 points) losing only their second game in their last 10.
It’s a city rivalry. There’s nothing like it. Bragging rights, back pages – which the Islanders likely owned before the NY Jets named a new coach and GM on Tuesday night – and everything else that comes with this feud were on the line.
And the Islanders skated out of MSG with a 3-0 win, a dominating effort that chased Henrik Lundqvist and gave the visiting fans invading the Garden a silent crowd over which to chant “LET’S GO ISLANDERS!” in the game’s waning moments.
“It’s certainly going to make a lot of people on Long Island happy tomorrow morning,” said captain John Tavares. “We’re excited about beating them. The rivalry’s always been great. You enjoy it. But they’ve been playing well, and the top of our division has been real tight.”
It’s a win over one of the NHL’s hottest teams, one that just bullied the West Coast powers like few Eastern Conference teams have.
“Yeah, but we’re not playing bad either,” said defenseman Johnny Boychuk.
This is true. The Islanders are now 6-3-1 in their last 10, winning three straight before facing the Pittsburgh Penguins for the division lead on Friday.
They weathered a quick start from the Rangers on home ice – including a moment when Rick Nash and Derick Brassard both put pucks off the same post one second apart – and then rolled to a victory.
“We knew they were going to come at us in the first 10, but we knew they couldn’t come at us like that all game,” said forward Frans Nielsen.
“We played perfect the last 40 minutes.”
The Islanders broke the game open with three goals in the second period.
After the Islanders had a goal waved off when Casey Cizikas jumped into Henrik Lundqvist, they broke through on an Anders Lee backhander. Calvin de Haan’s shot got through a screen, and then Lee spun it past Lundqvist at 8:49, with Dan Girardi unable to defend it.
The Islanders took a 2-0 lead on a Nikolai Kulemin goal at 16:31 of the second. Thomas Hickey used his speed from the right point to skate deep into the Rangers’ zone. His feed in front nearly resulted in a Michael Grabner goal, but the puck went wide. The Rangers were unable to clear, and Kulemin corralled the puck and snapped it into the far corner to beat Lundqvist.
It was 3-0 moments later with the Rangers on a power play. Boychuk broke up a passing play with his stick, springing Nielsen on a break with Kulemin. The shorthanded ace beat Lundqvist under his left arm at 19:19.

Lundqvist was replaced by Cam Talbot in the third period, but it didn’t juice the attack. Jaroslav Halak, the backbone of this Islanders resurgence, won his 23rd game and recorded his fourth shutout.
Just another game … in which the Islanders skated into their rivals’ barn, beat the hottest team in hockey and maintained their division lead when so many didn’t even have them penciled in for the playoffs this season.
“For us [at the start of the season], no one gave us a chance, so why would their be any pressure on the Islanders?” said Capuano.
“You back to training camp, and go over things that are confidentially held in that room and what we wanted to accomplish. It’s about the character and the comfort the guys have in one another and, up until this point, how we have performed. But we have a lot of hockey left.”
Just another game ... and yet thoughts drift to the possibility of both teams making the postseason, and Nassau Coliseum being closed out with an epic Islanders vs. Rangers playoff series before the Isles move to Brooklyn.
“The emotion’s always high. The intensity’s always there,” said Tavares. “But it’s just one game at a time.”
Sure it is.*