Rangers rally in 3rd to beat Islanders 3-2
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Benoit Pouliot and Ryan McDonagh scored third-period goals, and the New York Rangers rallied for a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
Trailing 2-1 after two periods, McDonagh got the Rangers even at 4:59 with their second power-play goal of the night. Pouliot netted the game-winner off a pass from Carl Hagelin with 6:14 left. Cam Talbot, subbing for No. 1 goalie Henrik Lundqvist, made 22 saves for his second win. He played for the third time in four games.
McDonagh’s goal was set up by a penalty for too many men on the ice that had Islanders coach Jack Capuano screaming at the officials.
Cal Clutterbuck and Peter Regin had rallied the Islanders (4-5-3) in the second period after the Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the first. Evgeni Nabokov made 21 saves.
The Rangers shut down John Tavares, Frans Nielsen and newcomer Thomas Vanek, who made his Islanders debut two days after he was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres.
Chris Kreider scored in the first period for the Rangers, who rebounded after dropping their home opener to Montreal on Monday. The Rangers (4-7) have played all but one game on the road. Talbot made the goals stand up one night after Lundqvist lost 2-0.
The Islanders nudged ahead in a ragged second period in which both teams had defensive lapses and turnovers that created numerous scoring chances.
The Islanders made the most of a miscue by forward Brad Richards, who was playing at the left point. Richards made a lunge to keep the puck in, but missed it. That allowed Clutterbuck to race the other way.
With Richards chasing, Clutterbuck snapped off a textbook wrist shot that nestled into the top right corner to make it 1-1 at 3:40.
It was the first goal and second point for Clutterbuck.
The Islanders went ahead with 40.5 seconds left in the middle period, with help from the Rangers.
A shot from the left circle was deflected in the air by Talbot with his glove. The puck hit defenseman Dan Girardi, who was protecting the crease behind Talbot, and Regin and fell into the net.
The Rangers went from having only four shots in the first period to 15 in the second. One drive struck Nabokov in the mask and appeared to stun him, but the puck stayed out.
Kreider gave the Rangers a 1-0 edge when he scored his first NHL goal of the season. He showed his relief once the puck glided into the net behind Nabokov during a brief power play. The 22-year-old forward was despondent one night earlier when he was robbed of a goal by Montreal’s Peter Budaj.
This time he got to a rebound of Richards’ drive and scored with 7:30 left in the first.
Kreider, who had two goals and two assists in six games with Hartford of the AHL before being recalled Oct. 20, recorded one assist in three previous games since his return.
NOTES: Tavares has a 10-game point streak snapped, the longest in the NHL this season. Nielsen had scored a goal in four straight games. ... The Rangers activated Hagelin from the injured list, and he made his season debut following shoulder surgery. ... Clutterbuck has 63 goals and 337 penalty minutes in 355 NHL games. ... This was the only meeting between the teams at Nassau Coliseum. They will play at Yankee Stadium — an Islanders home game — and three times at Madison Square Garden.