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Park's shootout tally helps Islanders edge Rangers

Apr 5, 2008 - 7:23 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- The New York Islanders ended their regular season with some satisfaction, but Richard Park could not hide his disappointment. On the other side, the New York Rangers had other reasons to be dissatisfied.

Park scored in the fourth round of the bonus format and also added a shorthanded goal in the second period to help the Islanders to a 4-3 victory over the rival New York Rangers on Friday.

Wade Dubielewicz, who stopped 48 shots in regulation and overtime, denied Petr Prucha on the Rangers' final attempt in the shootout to prevent them from tying the New Jersey Devils for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

"It's always nice to win," Park said. "I don't think it overshadows the fact that there's a lot of disappointment and sadness in our locker room, especially among the older guys. We had really high expectations throughout the whole year. (This win) is a little bit of a band-aid over the wound, but the hurt is still there."

The Islanders took a 2-1 advantage after the first two rounds of the shootout on goals by rookies Kyle Okposo and Blake Comeau. However, Fredrik Sjostrom kept the Rangers in the game when he deked Dubielewicz and scored in the third round.

Park, who had given the Islanders a 3-2 lead with his shorthander, wristed a shot that went off the glove of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and into the net, once again giving his club the edge.

"The game could have been better," Lundqvist said. "Game time is a lot different than a shootout, but obviously it's not good to let in three out of four (in the shootout). It was a big game for us. We were trying to gain home-ice advantage."

Park's decisive goal helped the Islanders avoid a season-ending fifth straight loss. It also gave them just their third win in their final 15 games as injuries decimated the lineup and forced a number of younger players into action.

"That's the bottom line, and you can use our injury factor if you want, but at the end of the day, I know none of us players used it as a crutch," Park said. "We went out and whoever we were losing in the lineup, we always had a sense we were going to win."

Dubielewicz did his job following Park's tally, stopping Prucha on the Rangers' fourth try to seal the win for the Islanders.

While Park expressed his disappointment at the regular season, the Rangers (42-27-12) were not happy for a different reason. They gained a point but remained one behind New Jersey (45-29-7) for fourth place and home ice in the conference quarterfinals.

"I think it is a huge advantage if it comes to a Game Seven," Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr said. "It is an advantage. You have to travel less, plus you can feed off your fans and the energy."

The Rangers have won all season meetings with the Devils and will get the chance to claim the fourth spot with a regulation win at New Jersey on Sunday.

"It's scary, but it is what it is," Jagr said of the playoff race. "All of the teams are fighting for the playoffs, and even the teams trying to get a better position are all winning. A lot of teams are playing great hockey."

"We just have to make sure we are ready to go on Sunday from the drop of the puck and treat it as our first playoff game," Rangers rookie center Brandon Dubinsky added.

Okposo and Miroslav Satan also scored in regulation for the Islanders, who finished the season with a 35-38-9 record.

"You want to be the spoiler when you're not in the playoffs, so tonight was a fun night for us," Okposo said.

Islanders coach Ted Nolan agreed with Okposo regarding the importance of finishing the season on a strong note.

"We always hear that there is nothing to play for," Nolan said. "I strongly disagree with that. We always have something to play for. We get paid quite handsomely to play this game, and fans pay a lot of money to watch us. To just go through the motions isn't the right thing to do, and we never did that."

The Rangers, who never led, tied the game three times on goals by defenseman Dan Girardi, Nigel Dawes and Jagr.

However, the Rangers - who registered a season-high 51 shots - failed miserably on the power play, going 0-for-8 with the man advantage.

Lundqvist made 29 saves for the Rangers.

Okposo, whose first career goal came against three-time Vezina Trophy winner Martin Brodeur, opened the scoring midway through the first with a one-timer from the slot.

Girardi tied it at 2:29 of the second with a slap shot from the left faceoff circle, but Satan made it 2-1 less than four minutes later when Lundqvist left the rebound of rookie defenseman Jack Hillen's shot in the crease. After making his NHL debut on Thursday, the 22-year-old Hillen recorded his first career point on the play with an assist.

Dawes forged a 2-2 deadlock with 6:50 remaining in the second by beating Dubielewicz with a shot that glanced off the Islanders' Trent Hunter.

Nearly two minutes later, the Rangers had a long 5-on-3 power play as Josef Vasicek was called for cross-checking and defenseman Bryan Berard for unsportsmanlike conduct with 5:01 remaining in the period.

Just seven seconds into the two-man advantage, the Rangers turned over the puck and Park sprung free on a breakaway for his 12th goal of the season.