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Shorthanded goals propel Islanders past Rangers

Nov 5, 2008 - 5:39 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- For 40 minutes, the New York Rangers threw shot after shot at Joey MacDonald. The New York Islanders goaltender held strong long enough for his teammates to eventually reward him.

MacDonald made 35 saves and came within 1:41 of his first career shutout and the Islanders scored a pair of shorthanded goals in the third period en route to a 2-1 triumph over the Rangers on Tuesday.

Rookie Nate Thompson and Richard Park scored shorthanders 4:42 apart early in the third as the Islanders posted consecutive victories for the first time under new coach Scott Gordon. It also marked the first time they scored two or more goals while shorthanded since netting three at Carolina on January 22.

"It was huge," Gordon said of the goals. "I said to the guys after the second period, 'We've weathered the storm here and now just realize it's a 0-0 game and all it is going to take is one shot that might make the difference.' Tonight, it was two shots that came on our penalty kill."

Coming off consecutive games in which they blew three-goal leads in the third period to Montreal and Columbus, the Islanders were able to protect their two-tally advantage against their crosstown rivals by getting the best performance of MacDonald's brief NHL career.

"He definitely gave the whole locker room a certain amount of confidence," Park said. "Knowing that we had someone back there capable of stepping up in big moments and making big saves, it's very reassuring."

MacDonald was not very reassuring Monday, when he gave up a three-goal lead before his teammates won it in overtime. This game featured a vastly different performance as MacDonald made 11 saves in the first period, 18 in the second and six in the third.

MacDonald, who is the Islanders' starting goaltender until Rick DiPietro returns from knee surgery, made his biggest stop of the night during the middle session. Just before Gordon called a timeout with 7:57 remaining, MacDonald reached over his head to snatch defenseman Michal Rozsival's rising slap shot out of the air and keep the Rangers off the board.

"They put some pressure on us," MacDonald said. "They had some chances. Overall, I thought that our D did a pretty good job of letting me see the puck, and the ones that I didn't see, we blocked them. I made a couple of big saves, but that's my job. I got to make a couple of big saves to let the team feed off that, and I thought we did."

He lost his shutout bid when the Rangers pulled goaltender Henrik Lundqvist for an extra attacker and Markus Naslund scored late in the final session.

"There were enough chances to win the game, especially in the second period, when we played in their end the entire period," Naslund said. "It's a matter of putting the puck in the net when it counts."

Lundqvist made 17 saves for the Rangers, who have lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season. The netminder was done in by his teammates' woeful showing on the power play, including turnovers that led to both goals.

"Unacceptable performance tonight," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "The power play let us down."

Renney's team bolted to a franchise-best 10-2-1 start after October but has turned in poor performances in the last two games. This one came just three nights after the Rangers allowed five unanswered goals in the final seven minutes of a 5-2 loss at Toronto.

The first tally by the Islanders came after former Ranger Thomas Pock blocked a shot by fellow defenseman Wade Redden near the blue line, allowing Thompson and Frans Nielsen to break out of the zone on a 2-on-1. Nielsen took a pass and had his backhanded attempt stopped by Lundqvist, but Thompson followed the play and batted in a high rebound at 3:18 of the third for his first career goal.

"I think it was off the rebound," Thompson said. "I just chipped it to myself. I skated down and passed it (to) Fransie. (The puck) was sitting there and I took a swing at it."

Park netted the Islanders' third shorthanded tally against the Rangers this season. After intercepting defenseman Michal Rozsival's cross-ice pass at the blue line, he carried down the left wing and put a wrist shot from the faceoff circle over Lundqvist's left shoulder with 12 minutes remaining for a 2-0 bulge.