The Rangers and their playoff hopes are hemorrhaging, and the Islanders, out of the playoff hunt since Christmas, can stomp into the Garden tonight and put the Rangers out of their misery.
“We don’t have much else to play for,” Isles captain Trevor Linden said. “When you have an opportunity to knock a team out of the playoffs, sometimes you take satisfaction in that.”
There should another motivating factor for the depleted Isles, who on other nights will be more concerned with auditioning their young prospects than winning – a state coach Bill Stewart referred to as “training camp mode.”
No Isles’ team since the expansion year of 1972-73 has gone through a season without beating the Rangers. With a loss tonight, the Isles will share that dubious distinction with the ’72-73 squad. The Isles are 0-4 against the Blueshirts, losing four one-goal games, including two in overtime.
So there’s the one final challenge for the baby Isles, who suited up six rookies and 12 players with less than 90 games experience in Saturday night’s 7-3 slaughter vs. Ottawa. After tonight, the Isles have eight games left before they can put themselves out of their own misery.
“You’re always measured by your wins and losses but I think once the carrot has gone by the wayside, it’s better to experiment and evaluate your situation,” Stewart said.
Linden admits after tonight’s Garden clash, it won’t be easy getting up for games.
“It’s the toughest part of the season, for sure,” Linden said. “You just have to do a good job focusing and at game time mentally get yourself prepared. It’s a lot easier to play in the big games.”
And tonight’s is perhaps the last.
“Obviously after getting embarrassed [Saturday] night, going into the Garden we want to play well,” said goalie Wade Flaherty, hung out to dry Saturday night because of the atrocious down-low coverage of the Isles’ defense. “Obviously if we play like [Saturday] night, we’re going to be embarrassed again. Hopefully, it will be a wakeup call.”
The Isles put up their best effort vs. the Blueshirts in the last meeting, a 3-2 overtime loss in which goalie Tommy Salo gave up a terrible goal to Adam Graves to end the game and his Isles’ career.
“I thought it was one of our best games of the year, but when you’re in the playoff hunt, you find ways to win,” Stewart said.
And when you’ve been counting the days to the end of the season since Christmas, you find ways to lose. And find ways to be linked in history with the 1972-73 Isles. *Isles will promote John Namestnikov from Lowell for tonight’s game as rookie D Eric Brewer (flu) is out. Brewer sat out final two periods Saturday after IV in locker room didn’t help … Stewart on Saturday’s defensive-zone coverage that allowed Ottawa’s Marian Hossa, without a defender near him, to hold the puck for several seconds at the goal mouth before scoring: “To put it in kinder words, the defense was suspect. I’m trying to be politically correct.” … While J.P. Dumont, the Isles’ third overall pick in ’96, is producing for the Blackhawks, Dmitri Nabokov, whom the Isles got in return, is still in Lowell and may not get promoted by season’s end. “There are others ahead of him,” Stewart said … D Rich Pilon is furious over a Post report in which a league insider wondered if Pilon wasn’t willing to play with back spasms in the days leading up to the trading deadline to prevent a deal. Pilon, who has missed the last five games, had an MRI Thursday revealing an inflamed disc. “I love the Island, but if it’s a matter of getting traded and playing in the playoffs, that’s what it’s all about,” Pilon fumed.
