PGP Game 23, Isles @ Rags 11/29/07 7:00 PM

The Isles will take on the Rags for the 4th time of the season tonight at the Garden.

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BIG MATCHUP:

New York vs. New York

The matchup is self explanatory. No need for me to keep writing on this.

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After a shootout win last night, the Isles are now 13-8-1 on the year.

Things should be pretty confident in the Isles lockeroom. They are 3-0 this season against the Rangers, and will look into #4 tonight. All games were won by a 1-goal margin, which leads into a new problem.

You probably know what it is. Things are not going in the net anymore. Josef Vasicek seems to be fine, though, as he leads the team in scoring.

The Isles can pass the Rags in the standings with a win tonight. Expect everyone to be trying hard tonight.


My Projected Lines:

Goaltenders
39 Rick DiPietro
34 Wade Dubielewicz

Defensemen
32 Brendan Witt - 24 Radek Martinek
25 Andy Sutton - 47 Marc-Andre Bergeron
14 Chris Campoli - 8 Bruno Gervais

Forwards
12 Chris Simon - 89 Mike Comrie - 13 Bill Guerin
11 Andy Hilbert - 18 Mike Sillinger - 7 Trent Hunter
26 Ruslan Fedotenko - 63 Josef Vasicek - 81 Miroslav Satan
10 Sean Bergenheim – 10 Richard Park - 17 Shawn Bates

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The Rangers haven't been to bad either. Led by G Henrik Lundqvist, the Rags put up a 13-9-2 record so far this season.

The game probably won't have as much action, as Sean Avery is having wrist surgery today.

The Rangers will always put in a great effort into games, no matter how nasty their players are. Two hard-working and physical teams going at it will go for some extreme fun tonight.

My Projected Lines:

Forwards
82 - Martin Straka 17 - Brandon Dubinsky 68 - Jaromir Jagr
81 - Marcel Hossa 19 - Scott Gomez 14 - Brendan Shanahan
25 - Petr Prucha 23 - Chris Drury 24 - Ryan Callahan
44 - Ryan Hollweg 15 - Blair Betts 28 - Colton Orr

Defensemen
3 - Michal Rozsival 18 - Marc Staal
51 - Fedor Tyutin 5 - Daniel Girardi
34 - Jason Strudwick 27 - Paul Mara

Goaltenders
30 - Henrik Lundqvist
40 - Stephen Valiquette



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Official Preview:

A year later, and the Islanders once again look to start the season 4-0 against the cross-river rival Rangers, when they visit Madison Square Garden tonight at 7 pm. Already three games into the season series, the Islanders have captured three one-goal victories – one coming at MSG.

The Islanders have captured a pair of 2-1 victories and a 3-2 contest. In their latest outing – on November 19 – the Islanders used second-period goals from Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek to win 2-1 at the Garden. Rick DiPietro earned his tenth win of the season and 100th of his career, making 18 saves.

The Islanders did not skate this morning after coming off an emotional 3-2 shootout win over the Ottawa Senators last night. Playing against the top rated Eastern Conference team, the Islanders did not surrender. Ottawa out-shot the Islanders 37-22, but DiPietro kept the Islanders ahead 2-1 until the game’s final two minutes of regulation.

Andrej Meszaros scored with only 1:55 left in the game to force overtime and ultimately a shootout. In the skills competition, captains Bill Guerin and Mike Sillinger came through in the clutch, while DiPietro made one final save on Dean McAmmond in the sixth round to seal the victory. Sillinger and Josef Vasicek scored the Islanders two regulation goals. It was Vasicek’s team-leading ninth.

From one tough game to the next, the Islanders find themselves. While the Rangers have had as much difficulty scoring as the Islanders, it’s inevitable they will be pumped up for this one.

The Rangers sit only one point ahead of the Islanders, who have two games in hand. Since winning five games in a row, the Rangers have gone 1-2-1 in their latest four-game stretch.

Henrik Lundqvist leads the league in goals against average, but the offense has not been there for the Blueshirts. In their last four games, the Rangers have not scored more than two goals. Their latest loss came to Dallas on Monday by the score of 3-2.

It won’t help the offense that the Rangers will be without Sean Avery, who will receive surgery on his hand, which was injured in a fight against Darcy Tucker earlier this month and then by a slapshot from Brendan Shanahan.