NEW YORK (AP)—Mark Parrish and Shawn Bates scored in a shootout, lifting the New York Islanders to a 3-2 victory Thursday night over the New York Rangers.
Rick DiPietro made a left-pad save against Petr Prucha to seal the victory, allowing only a goal to Jaromir Jagr in the NHL’s new tiebreaker format.
Janne Niinimaa and Trent Hunter scored in regulation for the Islanders, and Jagr and Jed Ortmeyer answered for the Rangers.
Ortmeyer tied it at 2 late in the second period when took a crossing pass from Blair Betts and snapped a shot past DiPietro for a short-handed goal with 5:38 left.
It came while Jagr was serving the 11th of the Rangers’ 12 penalties. But unlike the preseason opener between the teams, the Islanders scored once on the power play and allowed a short-handed goal.
The Islanders entered with 61 power-play chances during the preseason, the third highest total in the NHL, yet only converted nine times—including three against the Rangers during a 5-1 win on Sept. 20.
The Islanders scored at least one man-advantage goal in each of their seven exhibition games. They won’t get to try it out again until the regular-season opener Wednesday in Buffalo.
In overtime, the Islanders had another power-play chance when Dale Purinton was called for boarding with 3:01 left.
Janne Niinimaa gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead just 1:40 in when his backhand shot from the slot bounced up off the stick and pad of goalie Kevin Weekes and popped behind him. Weekes dived back and covered the puck in desperation, but video replay confirmed it had already crossed the line.
Jagr, who scored twice in New York’s 4-2 victory over Boston last Sunday, got the Rangers even when he took a pass in the neutral zone and got by Niinimaa who fell down. Jagr made several side-to-side moves in front before beating DiPietro to make it 1-1 at 9:15 of the opening period.
The Islanders (3-3-1) regained the lead at 11:37 on Hunter’s only goal of the preseason. Former Rangers forward Mike York ripped a shot from the left side that struck traffic in front of Weekes. The puck dropped right down to Hunter, who was camped in front of the net, and he smacked a shot in.
Rangers left winger Ville Nieminen strained his right groin in the second period and didn’t return. He is day to day. Islanders forward Jason Blake injured his right leg while blocking a shot in the second period, but he was back on the ice in the third.
The Rangers (1-2-1) will wrap up their exhibition schedule with a game Saturday at Boston and a home game versus New Jersey on Sunday.
Both goalies played the entire game. Weekes made 33 saves, while DiPietro stopped 21 shots before the shootout.
Lighthouse Hockey
Blueshirt Banter