Goalie Cam Talbot Takes Charge in Rangers vs. Islanders Clash

By Alex Romanelli

It was a cold and rainy Tuesday night, the air was thick, and the snow was melting, and in Uniondale, New York, two of the National Hockey League’s top two teams began to face off in what was probably the most important game of the year for either team.

The New York Rangers and New York Islanders have been rivals since the Islanders were founded in 1972, and since then both teams have gone through success streaks, the Islanders in the 1980’s, and the Rangers in the early 90’s and throughout the last 10 years. But rarely have they ever been in a battle with each other for a top playoff spot, until this year. The Islanders came into the March 10 game just a few points ahead of the Rangers for first place in the National Hockey League’s Metropolitan Division.

There was no denying that the Islanders had control of the season series, with the Islanders winning the first three but the Rangers winning the previous match up. But this Ranger team was different, both are teams to beat in the NHL, and Tuesday’s clash was one for the history books. A number of story lines had taken place before the game. The Islanders got one of their top forwards, Kyle Okposo, back into action after he had missed 20+ games with an eye injury. While the Rangers, who have arguably the best goaltender in the world, who was not able to play due to a sprained blood vessel in his neck, found all the pressure to win this game was on their surprisingly consistent back up goaltender, Cam Talbot.

Both Fan bases knew how important this game was for bragging rights and positioning in the standings. With the crowd split at 50/50 between Ranger fans and Islander fans, the puck dropped and these two bitter rivals clashed for what might be the last time at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, as the Islanders are scheduled to move to a new home, Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, next year. The Rangers had been sloppy in the first periods against the Islanders this year. And at the 9:45 mark of the first period, the Islanders struck first, forward Anders Lee scored and gave the Islanders the first goal. With the crowd behind them they continued to surge, but thanks to Talbot, it remained 1-0 after the first period.

There was still 40 minutes left in this game, plenty of time for the Rangers to make a comeback; they controlled the play in the second period, a complete turnaround from their first period, and then with about 8:25 left in the second, Rangers forward Kevin Hayes used his strength to go to the Islander net and slammed in a shot that beat Islander goaltender Jaroslav Halak—tie game.

With about a minute left in the second, and the Rangers taking charge, something happened that changed the entire complexion of the game, Islander forward Josh Bailey had a one on one breakaway against Talbot, this could’ve given the Islanders the lead again, but it was stopped by the Ranger goalie, keeping it tied at 1 going into the final period.

The third period, the Rangers started with some control, but had no results until the Rangers’ leading scorer, forward Rick Nash, took a far shot that hit off an Islander skate and deflected in! 2-1 Rangers. The rest of the third was the Rangers defending this lead while the Islanders kept coming strong, hitting a few very good chances, but Talbot was sensational. The goal by Nash was the most important, because it was the game winner. The final score: New York Rangers 2, the New York Islanders 1, with Talbot stopping 29 of 30 Islander shots.

Talbot put his team one point behind first place, making the next month all the more interesting. With Ranger fans jumping for joy and Islander fans stunned, this was a match up that had been awaited for a long time. If these teams keep playing the way they are now, we could see a new match up sometime in the spring.