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Rangers, Islanders clash on Long Island

Dec 2, 2010 - 4:06 PM (Sports Network) - Another edition of the Battle of New York will be on tap tonight on Long Island, as the Rangers visit the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum for the opener of a home-and-home series.

The Islanders will be trying not just for a victory over their geographic rival, but they will also attempt to win consecutive games for the first time since the middle of October.

With Friday's 2-0 home win over New Jersey, the Islanders officially put the worst losing streak in franchise history to bed. The Isles had lost a club- record 14 games in a row, going 0-11-3 since their last win over Tampa Bay on Oct. 21. That previous win over the Lightning was also the final victory in a three-game winning streak.

Rick DiPietro made 29 saves for his 16th career shutout to lead the Isles past the Devils on Friday. It was just the third win in 10 starts for DiPietro this season and his first since the victory over Tampa on Oct. 21.

Jesse Joensuu and Rob Schremp scored goals for the Islanders, who gave coach Jack Capuano his first win in five tries since taking over for the fired Scott Gordon.

"It's a good feeling for the boys," said Capuano. "The key was to get through the neutral zone and get pucks to the net and we did a good of that for about two periods and then the tide turned. The penalty kill came up big for us in the third."

The win also ended a five-game home losing streak for the Islanders, who are 3-4-2 as the host club this season.

Doug Weight missed his fourth straight game on Friday with back spasms and the Isles captain is questionable for tonight's game.

The Isles and Rangers met earlier this season on Long Island and the home team notched a 6-4 victory. It was just the second win for the Islanders in the last five games of this series and the Rangers suffered just their second loss in nine trips to the Coliseum. The clubs will meet tomorrow night in New York City for the home-and-home finale at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers are coming off Monday's home loss to Pittsburgh. The Blueshirts had won two straight and four out of five before dropping the 3-1 decision to the Penguins.

Kris Letang and Chris Conner scored 1:15 apart in the second period to help lead Pittsburgh to the win. Marian Gaborik lit the lamp for the Rangers, while Henrik Lundqvist stopped 24 shots in defeat.

"We talked about it this morning - (Sidney Crosby) is a good player," Lundqvist said. "He will draw a lot of attention. We had a stretch in the second period where they came hard. I thought in the first and especially in the third period that we played really, really well."

The Rangers are 9-4-0 as the visiting team this year and have won two straight and five of their last seven road games.