Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the New York Islanders (9-19-7, 25 points) and New York Rangers (16-17-2, 34 points) take the ice at Madison Square Garden in New York City for the second of five meetings against each other this season. The game can be live streamed here. Fans of the Islanders can hear all of the action on WRHU 88.7 FM while fans of the Rangers can do the same on 98.7 ESPN Radio.
The Islanders have gone 3-14-4 since Nov. 2 and are in danger of falling out of contention while the Rangers have failed to take advantage of a franchise-record nine-game homestand by posting a 1-3-2 record through the first six games of it. The first time these two teams met, the Rangers won 3-2 on Oct. 29 at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island.
The Rangers have just one win and four points through the first six games of their marathon home stand, however the team has shown some signs of life with back-to-back games that saw the team climb out of 3-1 holes to force overtime and a shootout. The Blueshirts defeated the Calgary Flames in the skills competition on Sunday before falling 4-3 in it against the Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday night.
"[It's a] big point. We played a pretty good game, I think," goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said per NHL.com. "The way we play as a group, I thought we did a lot of good things."
Lundqvist was momentarily shaken up after a collision but remained in the game and will likely start tonight. Lundqvist is 10-14-2 with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage thus far this season. The Islanders will likely counter with Kevin Poulin, who is 4-12-0 with a 3.25 GAA and a .892 save percentage this season.
The Islanders haven't won a game in regulation since Oct. 25 and blew a 2-0 lead in an eventual 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
"When you play the right way for 57 minutes and you don't get the result, it's frustrating," forward Kyle Okposo told NHL.com. "Especially the way that happened tonight."
Okposo has three goals in four games and is second on the team with 30 points off of 11 goals and 19 assists while captain John Tavares leads the team with 38 points off of 13 tallies and 25 helpers and Frans Nielsen has 11 markers and 15 assists for 26 points.
Brad Richards has paced the Rangers with 26 points off of nine goals and 17 assists while Mats Zuccarello has three points in his last three games and has found the back of the net seven times and added 16 helpers for 23 points and Derek Stepan has lit the lamp six times and added 16 assists for 22 points.
Two teams in the lower half of the Eastern Conference battle it out in the Battle of New York when the Islanders and the Rangers faceoff tonight as the lights come up at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
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