Devils Fall as Rangers and Isles Pick Up Wins

As the NHL started stateside this week all 3 local teams found themselves in action. The New Jersey Devils lost at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning while both the Rangers and Islanders won their season openers. The Devils game marked the debut of head coach Brent Sutter along with new comers Aaron Asham, Vitaly Vishnevski, and Danius Zubrus. All three remained off the score sheet as the Devils lone goal came just after the halfway mark of the first period. Brian Gionta deflected Zach Parise's backhander past Johan Holmqvist to put the Devils ahead. The Devils remained ahead until Vincent Lecavalier beat Martin Brodeur blocker side to knot the score at 1-1. The game remained deadlocked until Lecavailier gave the Lightning the go-ahead goal by slamming the puck past a helpless Brodeur who couldnt go post to post fast enough. With time winding down, the Devils pulled Brodeur in hopes of getting a late equaliser but instead gave up another goal, this time to Vaclav Prospal, to seal their fate for the night. The Devils will continue to play on the road for 8 more games until the Prudential Center is officially opened on October 28th versus the Ottawa Senators.
The New York Rangers felt the effect of their off-season spending in their home opener as they cruised past the Florida Panthers 5-2. 37 seconds into the game Michal Rozsival gave the Rangers the lead which they took into the first intermission. All was squared 1-1 when Brett McLean beat Henrik Lundqvist early in the second period. The Panthers grabbed the lead seven minutes later as Natan Horton whipped a shot into the top shelf, initiating boo's from the garden faithful. The third period was all Rangers as they out-shot the Panthers 16-8 and scored four unanswered goals. New signing Chris Drury scored the winning goal and added an assist on a goal by Martin Stratka to ensure the Rangers would not be upset by a team which hasn't qualified for the playoffs in seven seasons.
On Friday, The New York Islanders opened their season against a team that ended their Stanley Cup dreams in the Buffalo Sabers. The 10 goal affair featured debuts for the Islanders' Mike Comrie, Bill Geurin, and Ruslan Fedotenko who all collected 3 points with the exception of Comrie who had 4. The off season loss of Daniel Briere and Chris Drury was evident for the Sabres who couldn't keep up with the surprisingly high-powered Islander offense. The Isles out-shot the Sabres 34-26 and saw Fedotenko collect the 100th goal of his career. Buffalo who started last season with a 10 game unbeaten streak will have to go back to the drawing board if they want a have a shot at making the playoffs
All three teams are in action tonight as the Devils take on the Panthers, the Rangers are in Ottawa to take on the Senators, and the Islanders square off against the Sabers for their home opener.

All games can be seen on NHL Center Ice which is having a free viewing until October 9th