Friday, 21 October 2005

Miroslav Satan gives Islanders a lead

Miroslav Satan waited for Henrik Lundqvist to make the first move.

After watching Henrik Lundqvist stay deep in the crease to stop Alexei Yashin's backhander on the first attempt in a shootout, Miroslav Satan fired a wrist shot past the rookie to help the New York Islanders beat the Rangers 3-2 on Wednesday night.

"I just watched the goalie to see what he was going to do. I was just trying to focus on him,'' Miroslav Satan said. "He stayed in, so I shot.''

Miroslav Satan, who had a power-play goal in the third period, was the only shooter to score in the shootout, the first of the season for both teams.

"I'm not that big of fan it,'' Miroslav Satan said. "I don't think the players like the pressure of a shootout, but it makes the game exciting for the fans.''

After Miroslav Satan had scored, Jaromir Jagr of the Rangers broke his stick on a wrist shot, with Rick DiPietro easily stopping the puck.

"That certainly was a break for us,'' Islanders coach Steve Stirling said.

In the final round of the shootout, the Islanders' Mark Parrish missed the net and the Rangers' Michael Nylander also fired wide to end the game and give the Islanders their first victory over the Rangers in 11 games.

The Islanders were swept by the Rangers in six games in 2003-04 and were 0-8-2 in their previous 10 meetings since a 3-1 victory at Madison Square Garden on November 23, 2002.

Rick DiPietro, who made 33 saves, was back in goal after sustaining a concussion last week in Washington and missing a 5-1 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday night.

"He was at the top of his game,'' Steve Stirling said. "The time off was good for him.''

The game was the first of three between the teams in nine days and they meet again Thursday night at Nassau Coliseum and October 27 at Madison Square Garden

"This series is intense. We're going to try to keep it going tomorrow,'' Miroslav Satan said.

The Eastern Conference-leading Rangers had won all their last three games, all at home and all with Henrik Lundqvist in goal. The 23-year-old Swedish player, starting in place of Kevin Weekes, beat Florida 4-0 on Monday night for his first NHL shutout.

"You get frustrated to lose a shootout,'' said Henrik Lundqvist, who had 23 saves. "You are so close to getting two points again. We're just going to go out tomorrow and show we're a good team and fight to the end.''

Jaromir Jagr's stick snapped in half when he tried to take a wrist shot.

"It probably happened in the last shift of overtime and I didn't know about it,'' Jaromir Jagr said. "All you need is a little bit of a slash and they can break. ... That's the way it goes. I was lucky on my goal and unlucky on the penalty shot.''

After Miroslav Satan scored on a power play to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead 28 seconds into the third, Jaromir Jagr was credited with a goal 14 seconds later when Islanders defenseman Tomi Pettinen deflected a centering attempt past DiPietro. The goal was Jaromir Jagr's seventh of the season and the first at even strength.

The Rangers tied it on a power play with 4:37 left in regulation, with Petr Prucha deflecting fellow rookie Fedor Tyutin's shot from the point past Rick DiPietro.

Alexei Yashin opened the scoring on a two-man advantage in the first period, ending the Rangers' string of successful penalty kills at 17 and also stopping their season-opening run of scoring first.

The Rangers had not allowed a power-play goal since Washington's Alexander Ovechkin scored on a two-man advantage late in the Capitals' 3-2 home victory Oct. 10, the Rangers' only regulation loss of the season.

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