Islanders win second straight over Rangers
Mark Parrish scored twice and Arron Asham had a short-handed goal and an assist as the New York Islanders overcame Jaromir Jagr’s first hat trick with the Rangers and beat New York 5-4 Thursday night at Uniondale, N.Y., to sweep a home-and-home series.
Miroslav Satan and Jason Blake also scored for the Islanders, who beat the Rangers 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Rick DiPietro stopped 26 shots in the rematch to give the Islanders their first winning streak of the season.
The Islanders were swept by the Rangers in six games in 2003-04 and before Wednesday were 0-8-2 in their previous 10 meetings since a 3-1 victory at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 23, 2002.
Jagr had his first three-goal game since Feb. 4, 2003, when he was with Washington. He leads the NHL with 10 goals and has a six-game point streak (eight goals, two assists).
Martin Rucinsky had the other goal for the Rangers, who got 16 saves from Kevin Weekes.
Weekes, who missed the previous four games with a groin strain, was activated before Wednesday’s game when he served as the backup to rookie Henrik Lundqvist.
The Rangers had to deal with a distraction at their hotel hours before the game.
They were forced to evacuate their Long Island hotel when a man wearing a surgical mask dumped a chemical on the floor and then drove away.
The 23-year-old man, former Garden City Hotel employee Scott Wallace, entered about 3 p.m., deliberately spilled the chemical on the floor of the rotunda area and then fled, Nassau County police said.
The chemical later was found to be harmless, and no one was injured.
Wallace was arrested several hours later, police said in a news release. The charges against him hadn’t been determined, pending a consultation with the district attorney’s office.
The Rangers didn’t want to blame their second loss to the Islanders in two nights on the chemical scare.
“It bothered a lot of people, but I wasn’t affected by it,” Weekes said. “Players are used to a game-day routine, and when it gets disrupted it can throw you off course a little bit, but you have to put things in perspective and give it the proper priority.”
Lightning 6, Thrashers 0: At Atlanta, Fredrik Modin scored two goals, John Grahame posted his first shutout and Tampa Bay routed Atlanta, handing the Thrashers another brutal loss.
Panthers 3, Capitals 2: At Sunrise, Fla., Anthony Stewart and Mike Van Ryn scored power-play goals, and Juraj Kolnik added a short-handed tally to give Florida a victory over Washington.
Sabres 4, Bruins 3: At Boston, J.P. Dumont deflected Teppo Numminen’s shot into the net to break a third-period tie, and Buffalo scored two power-play goals to snap a 0-for-27 slump as the Sabres beat the Bruins.
Devils 6, Penguins 3: At Pittsburgh, Brian Gionta scored two goals for the second time in as many games against Pittsburgh this season, and New Jersey ran the Penguins’ start-of-season winless streak to a franchise-record seven games.
Maple Leafs 5, Hurricanes 4 (OT): At Toronto, Ken Klee scored a power-play goal 4:44 into overtime and Toronto won its fourth straight game with a victory over Carolina.
Predators 3, Blues 2 (SO): At Nashville, Tenn., Tomas Vokoun turned away both shots he faced in the shootout and Nashville won its sixth straight to open the season by beating St. Louis.
Kings 7, Stars 2: At Dallas, Craig Conroy had a goal and two assists – giving him seven points in two games – and Los Angeles defeated Dallas.
Flames 3, Oilers 1: At Calgary, Alberta, Chuck Kobasew scored two goals, including the winner, as Calgary beat Edmonton.
Canucks 3, Coyotes 2: At Vancouver, British Columbia, Matt Cooke scored a disputed goal 4:21 into the third period to give Vancouver a victory over Phoenix.