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Drury, Zherdev help Rangers bounce Islanders

Mar 6, 2009 - 3:57 AM UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Captain Chris Drury and Nikolai Zherdev each recorded a goal and an assist as the New York Rangers posted a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday in a battle of Atlantic Division rivals.

Scott Gomez and Markus Naslund also tallied in support of All-Star Henrik Lundqvist's 28-save performance for the Rangers, who won their second straight game after dropping four in a row.

"The last four games have been pretty good," Lundqvist said. "We have been more active; skating more. We start to play defense right away when we lose the puck. We create more chances and we play better defensively.

"I think guys enjoy playing the system. They are more involved and feel like they can use their speed."

The Rangers benefited from strong debuts by newly acquired Nik Antropov and agitator Sean Avery.

Antropov, who was dealt from the Toronto Maple Leafs before the NHL trade deadline on Wednesday, recorded an assist, while Avery - claimed off waivers from the Dallas Stars - registered two penalty minutes in 13 minutes, 55 seconds of action.

"It was a pretty tough game," Antropov said. "It was little chaotic. I was scrambling in the first period. In the second, we put together a couple of nice shifts.

"I never saw the Islanders play that way when we (Toronto) played against them. It was a pretty fast pace."

Rangers coach John Tortorella was pleased with Avery's effort.

"Sean kept his discipline," Tortorella said. "I didn't see his penalty at the end of the game but I thought Sean did some good things. I thought he held onto the puck, I think he created some things, some offensive pressure. And he stayed within himself. I thought he played well."

Yann Danis stopped 19 shots and Blake Comeau and rookie Jack Hillen netted goals for the Islanders, who had their two-game winning streak halted.

"There wasn't anybody who had an off-night tonight," Islanders coach Scott Gordon said. "From top to bottom, we were pretty solid.

"They had some bounces but in saying that, I think we gave ourselves a pretty good chance to come back in the game - but it wasn't meant to be tonight."

After Zherdev opened the scoring at 8:33 of the first period, Comeau leveled the contest 5 1/2 minutes into the second with his fifth tally of the season.

Drury converted passes from Antropov and Brandon Dubinsky for a power-play goal four minutes after Comeau struck to give the Rangers a 2-1 bulge.

Gomez ballooned the advantage 49 seconds into the third, but Hillen notched his first goal of the campaign three minutes later to halve the deficit.

"It's an opportunity for the young guys to step up and prove that they can play here," Comeau said. "It's not the easiest thing to get opportunity in this league but when you do, you want to be ready and you want to make the most of it."

Naslund secured the victory with 6:36 remaining in the game, tipping in defenseman Paul Mara's attempt for a power-play tally while stationed in the slot.