Rangers Vs. Islanders Recap: Dan Girardi Knocks Off Islanders In Overtime

Wow. If any of you are still breathing after watching that game, I seriously hand it to you. The New York Rangers topped the New York Islanders by a rare score of 1-0 in overtime, with Dan Girardi coming away with the only goal of the game. Henrik Lundqvist finally registered his first shutout of the season, as he easily put the Rangers on his back and practially won this game by himself.

This game basically lived up to the hype that was building up since Thursday night. The crowd was going absolutely nuts, and it was a tight game where the referee's let them play, unless it was a blatantly obvious. This game started out absolutely insane, which everyone finishing their hits, and playing with an extra pep in their steps. With both teams trading their chances in the first period, we had our first penalties called of the game.

Colin McDonald took a late run at Steve Eminger, and wound up getting his elbow up high on the hit. Arron Asham took exception to the hit after the whistle, and wound wind up in the box as well for roughing. I'm just going to go out on a limb and ask this question. Did Asham going after McDonald really deserve an equal two minute penalty, after he blatantly took a run at Steve Eminger?

The first period would end up tied at 0-0, which would wind up spanning all the way throughout the second, and third periods. There was tons of highlight reel saves, tons of posts, and many heart stopping scoring chances being traded back and forth. The Islanders began to ramp up their pressure in the second period, and wound up outshooting the Rangers by a count of 12-7. Even though the Rangers were a bit sloppy throughout the second half of the game, there was man named Henrik Lundqvist who was able to pick up the slack.

He shut down the New York Islanders all night long, and was the main reason behind this victory. He made a few unbelieveable saves, including a ridiculous glove save on John Tavares late in the game to keep this game scoreless. The third period was much of the same, and this game would head to overtime, with both teams getting a point in this game.

Matt Carkner wound up taking a late penalty in the third period, which would carry over to the overtime period. Unfortunately, the Rangers weren't able to convert on the power play with wide open ice, but the game wouldn't last much longer. The games only goal came three minutes into overtime coming from Dan Girardi. Derick Brassard is the reason this game happens, as he slowed up coming into the offensive zone, and chipped a sauer pass between two Islanders defenseman. The pass landed right on the tape of Dan Girardi, who snapped it under the crossbar, which gave the Rangers the and two HUGE points in the standings.

The way this game was hyped up to be, you had to figure it would take extra time to crown a winner. Thankfully, it was the New York Rangers, and we're all able to breathe a little easier tonight. The Islanders still remain just a single point ahead of the New York Rangers, but they still have one more game played. The Rangers found a way to win this one, and it was a fantastic feeling, espescially coming against the Islanders. The Rangers will be on the road again on Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers where their playoff push continues.