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Islanders, Rangers renew rivalry at MSG

Oct 14, 2014 - 2:59 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Islanders are used to making the trip from Long Island to Manhattan to face the rival Rangers. Pretty soon that trek is going to get a lot shorter.

The New York clubs will battle on Tuesday for the first time this season when the unbeaten Islanders visit Madison Square Garden.

The Isles are off to a 2-0 start to the season, the club's final campaign at Nassau Coliseum before shifting operations to Brooklyn's Barclays Center in 2015-16. It marks the first time the club has won two in a row to begin a campaign since 2007-08. The Isles haven't won three straight to start a season since going 4-0 in 2001-02.

Both of the Islanders' wins this season came via a home-and-home sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes. They recorded a 5-3 victory in Raleigh on Friday before posting a 4-3 win the next night in the club's final home opener at the Coliseum.

Forwards Brock Nelson and John Tavares as well as defenseman Johnny Boychuk have fueled the Islanders quick start. Nelson has three goals and three assists to tie him with Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby for second place in the league in points, while Tavares and Boychuk each have a goal and four assists. Boychuk, of course, was acquired in a trade with Boston just prior to the start of the season.

Josh Bailey provided the game-winner on Saturday, tipping in a puck four seconds before the second intermission to give the Isles a 4-3 edge. Chad Johnson stopped 21 shots for the win, and turned aside all eight pucks sent his way in the third period.

Cory Conacher joined Nelson and Tavares as the other goal-scorers on Saturday, while Boychuk and Kyle Okposo each posted two assists.

"Guys are playing hard, battling hard," said Tavares. "Even when things don't go well, when you do those things it's going to turn a lot quicker."

While the Isles try to stay perfect on the season, the Rangers are hoping to avoid a third straight loss. The defending Eastern Conference champions opened their schedule with a 3-2 win in St. Louis, but followed with consecutive losses against Columbus and Toronto.

The Rangers dropped a 5-2 road decision versus the Blue Jackets on Saturday before losing Sunday's home opener against the Maple Leafs by a 6-3 count.

The score was tied at 1-1 after one period on Sunday, but Toronto opened the second with three straight goals to take control of the contest. The Maple Leafs would hold a 6-2 advantage by the end of 40 minutes.

Lee Stempniak, Rick Nash and Derick Brassard scored for the Rangers in Sunday's loss.

Nash will return Tuesday after leaving the home opener before the start of the third period to be with his wife Jessica for the birth of their first child. However, fellow forward Mats Zuccarello is questionable for Tuesday after missing Sunday's tilt with an injured right shoulder.

Henrik Lundqvist was tagged for six goals on 24 shots before being pulled in the second period. Cam Talbot stopped all 12 shots he faced in relief.

"No one in our group wanted to perform the way we did tonight," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "After a pretty balanced first period, I'm not sure what happened in the second. Every opportunity seemed to find the back of our net."

Lundqvist has had tremendous success against the Islanders over his career and expects to be in net tonight. The 32-year-old Swede is 29-12-5 with a 2.07 goals against average and .925 save percentage in 47 matchups with the Isles.

Jaroslav Halak could get the start for the Isles and is 7-4-0 with a 2.72 GAA in 11 career games against the Rangers. Halak made his Islanders debut with last week's win at Carolina.

The Rangers won three of five meetings against the Isles last season and have taken 10 of the past 14 encounters in the rivalry.