Berard returns, leads Islanders
Bryan Berard broke a second-period tie in his return to Long Island, and fellow defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron had a goal and assist Wednesday to lift the New York Islanders to a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers.
Berard, signed to a one-year deal Tuesday 10 years after winning top NHL rookie honors with the Islanders, gave them a 2-1 edge with a 5-on-3 power-play goal with 6:04 left in the period. Bergeron, who scored the first goal in the closing seconds of the opening frame, earned the second assist.
This marks the latest in a string of impressive comebacks for Berard, who was limited to 11 games last season with Columbus following back surgery and earned a spot on the club after coming to training camp on a tryout basis.
He stayed around the Islanders as the season began and waited for a roster spot to open. It did Monday when defenseman Freddy Meyer was claimed off waivers by Phoenix.
Rick DiPietro made 36 saves for the Islanders, who bounced back from a 2-1 home loss to Washington on Monday to win for the third time in four games.
Fedor Tyutin scored the lone goal for the Rangers, who have dropped two straight following a season-opening victory and began a stretch of three games in four nights. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 28 shots.
They were 0-for-6 on the power play -- one 5-on-3 -- and have yet to score a man-advantage goal this season in 15 chances. The Islanders went 1-for-6 -- two 5-on-3 -- and are 4-for-16 overall in the young season.
With Marek Malik and Blair Betts serving hooking penalties whistled 18 seconds apart, Berard finished a give-and-go play with Bill Guerin.
Berard, expected to quarterback the Islanders' power play, moved the puck down to Guerin stationed on the goal line to the right of Lundqvist. Guerin passed back up to Berard, who fired in a shot from above the left circle with 6:04 left in the middle period.
It was Berard's first goal since Jan. 27, 2006, a span of only 11 games. All three goals and eight points in the game were recorded by defensemen.
Tyutin got the Rangers into a 1-1 at 2:09 of the second with a hard shot from the high slot that eluded DiPietro.
The Islanders grabbed a 1-0 lead with only 3.5 seconds left in the first period with the teams skating 3-on-3. Mike Sillinger won an offensive zone faceoff in the right circle from Betts, and the puck dribbled back to the hash marks. Bergeron charged in from the right point and let loose his rocket slap shot and beat Lundqvist, sending the goalie down on all fours with his dejected head on the ice.
Outside of some roughing penalties, there was none of the fisticuffs that filled a preseason game between the teams. Islanders enforcer Chris Simon played then but not Wednesday as he still has one game remaining on his 25-game ban for his two-handed, stick-swinging hit from last season on Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg.
Notes: Islanders forward Jon Sim (knee) missed his second consecutive game and is out indefinitely. ... With Berard, the Islanders dressed seven defensemen. RW Darryl Bootland, who played in the first three games, was scratched. ... Rangers D Paul Mara was scratched for a second straight game as Rangers coach Tom Renney played Jason Strudwick because of his more rugged play.