Hope and Change in New York City: Avery and Rangers Win 4-2 Over Islanders

Sean Avery returned to the NHL after a three-month exile and the turnaround of the New York Rangers picked up a lot of steam as they got their second win in a row and their second under new coach John Tortorella.

Avery needed just one day of practice with the Rangers to make his way back into the lineup. The Rangers, the Florida Panthers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins all now have 74 points to take the final three spots in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt.

Inspired by trades and acquisitions made at the NHL trade deadline, The New York Rangers underachievers came alive to get another win over their lowly cross-town rivals, the New York Rangers, 4-2. The Rangers got goals by Nikolai Zherdev, Chris Dury, Scott Gomez, and Marcus Naslund. Rangers hadn't scored more than three goals on the road in 17 games.

The Rangers goals came from the team's leading scorers before the team was joined by Nik Antropov, Derek Morris, and Sean Avery. Drury and Gomez have been widely criticized for being underachievers this season. Avery had to take a few hits from the Islanders and he gave as good as he got, to set the tone of the game.

The newcomers made a big difference. Avery played 14 minutes, got three hits and a penalty for cross-checking. Antropov played 17 minutes and got an assist. Morris played 16 minutes and got two hits.

Avery wore his familiar number 16 and drew cheers from the crowd from his first shift on the ice. It was the Rangers second win in a row and their second win under new coach John Tortorella. The team had not won two games in a row since January.

The Islanders got two goals on the powerplay, which had not been working, and they scored more than two goals, which was also a rarity.

Antropov assisted on Drury's goal and Sean Avery got a penalty in the third period, when the Rangers were already leading by 4-2.

Zhederev put the Rangers ahead with an unassisted goal in the first period. Blake Comeau tied it in the second period but Drury scored to restore the lead.

Gomez added to the lead in the third period. Jack Hillen scored for the Islanders but Naslund's goal sealed the victory. The Rangers beat the Islanders for the fifth time in six meetings this season.

Thursday's game between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders  at the Nassau Coliseum featured the return of the Super-pest, the King of the Agitators, the NHL's No. 1 Bad Boy, Sean Avery, to the Rangers, with the addition of Nik Antropov and Derek Morris, playing under their new coach, John Tortorella. Nobody's calling them the Vanilla Rangers anymore.

Avery made a successful return, yapping, hitting, and drawing penalties without retaliating and helped New York snap an 0-7-2 road skid. He played for the Rangers from 2006-08, scoring 23 goals with 53 points and racking up 212 penalty minutes. However, he left Broadway this summer to a sign a four-year, $15.5 million deal with the Stars.

Avery yapped on the ice and from the bench. He decked Bruno Gervais on his first shift and had his first run-in of the night in the first period after being hit by Blake Comeau in front of the benches, but didn't push back in the skirmish.

He delivered hits to defensemen Bruno Gervais and Radek Martinek and absorbed a big blow when Trent Hunter smashed him face-first into the glass by the penalty box. Hunter was called for boarding and Avery kept his cool.

Avery's first fight came in the final minute of the opening period when Comeau caught him from behind with a shoulder hit in front of the benches. Comeau followed that hit with another. Zherdev quickly came to his defense as a linesman guided Avery away from the fray.

Avery returned to the bench, right next to the partition that separated the teams, and appeared to be chirping at Comeau and Islanders forward Kyle Okposo who was seated between them.

Early in the third, Hunter laid Avery out with a check near the penalty box that left him face down and stunned for a minute. Hunter was called for boarding. Avery didn't retaliate.

Avery was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking Jeff Tambellini in the third period.

He played on a line with Ryan Callahan centred by rookie Lauri Korpikoski. He held onto the puck, he created some plays, added some offensive zone pressure and he stayed within himself. He opened up space for Korpikoski and Callaghan and their line had fun playing that game.

The Islanders, at the trade deadline, shipped their captain and second leading scorer, Bill Guerin to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Isles were also without many injured players, including former Rangers center Doug Weight, goaltender Rick DiPietro, and winger Trent Hunter.

Avery was banished by Dallas in December because of crude comments he made about players dating his former girlfriends. He was suspended six games by the NHL, but then wasn't welcomed back by the Stars.

After anger management, a couple of months off, and several games in the AHL, where he led the Hartford Wolf Pack on a six-game winning-streak Avery returned to the NHL saying he was a milder Sean Avery but also saying Sean Avery is not THAT mild.

The Rangers were 32-24-8 take and the Islanders were 20-36-7.
Now the Rangers are 33-24-8 and the Islanders are 20-37-7.

In their last game, the Rangers had their first win under Tortorella, beating the Colorado Avalanche 6-1. Before that, the team was in a terrible slump, which led to the firing of coach Tom Renney.

The Rangers are hoping the return of Avery will spark the team as they head into the stretch leading up to the Stanley Cup play-offs, as he did the last two seasons. The addition of Antropov and Morris at the trade deadline has raised the hopes and expectations of Rangers fans.

The Islanders won their last game, too. It was a meeting between the worst teams in the Eastern and Western conferences. It was New York Islanders 4, Colorado Avalanche 2.

Antropov, the 6'6", 29 year-old center acquired from the Maple Leafs played two games against the Rangers last week, under their old coach and their new coach. He scrambled a bit in the first period but looked at home in the Rangers uniform after that.

The same could be said about Morris, the 6'2", 220 pound, 30 year-old defenseman, who was picked up from the Phoenix Coyotes. The Rangers traded three players—wingers Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes as well as defenseman Dmitri Kalinin—to get Morris from the Phoenix Coyotes.

Avery looked as though he had never left the Rangers as he set the tone and was an effective presence just like the last two seasons he was with the team.

The final Islanders-Rangers game was reminiscent of the movie "Mystery, Alaska" in which the Rangers take on a local team in a game of pond hockey and find they got a little more than they bargained for, according to Greg Logan of Newsday. On paper, it looked like a mismatch, he said, but on the ice, the Islanders carried the play much of the night and seemed to make the pesky Avery their personal piñata, nailing him repeatedly with solid hits.

Enforcer Joel Rechlicz, nicknamed "The Wrecker," made his NHL debut but surprised everybody by avoiding the penalty box. Rechlicz (pronounced WRECK-lidge) is a a native of Brookfield, Wisconsin.

The 6'4", 220-pound forward is billed as a tough-as-nails type of player. He spent last season with the Albany River Rats of the AHL and the Kalamazoo Wings of the IHL, played in 25 games for each club, scored one goal and had one assist for two points, and totalled 206 penalty minutes.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars picked up Brendan Morrison off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks. The 33-year-old Morrison has appeared in 62 games this season, recording 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points. The Morrison pickup was the only move made by the Stars at the NHL Trade Deadline even though they are a club fighting to make the Playoffs.

And the Phoenix Coyotes handed the East-leading Boston Bruins their ninth loss in 12 games, which will give the Rangers even more hope as they make changes and pick up speed in the stretch heading toward the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Rangers are now 51-23-13 with Avery in the lineup.