Islanders–Rangers rivalry
First meeting | October 21, 1972 |
---|---|
Latest meeting | April 13, 2024 |
Next meeting | TBD |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 332 |
All-time series | 157–146–19–10 (NYR) |
Regular season series | 138–126–19–10 (NYR) |
Postseason results | 20–19 (NYI) |
Largest victory | NYI 10–2 NYR April 3, 1976 |
Longest win streak | NYI W8 |
Current win streak | NYR W1 |
Postseason history | |
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The Islanders–Rangers rivalry, also known as the Battle of New York,
Like the Knicks–Nets rivalry of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the old Dodgers–Giants rivalry of Major League Baseball (MLB), the two teams are in the same division and thus play several matches together each season. In contrast, the New York Yankees and New York Mets are in different leagues while the New York Jets and New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) are in different conferences, and as such those teams meet rarely, either during interconference or championship games.
History
1970s
The rivalry was established in late 1971, when the National Hockey League awarded a second franchise in the New York metropolitan area. With the impending start of the
1980s
The two clubs would battle once again in the semifinals of the 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Islanders won the Stanley Cup the previous year, and looked to defend their title. Islanders devastated the Rangers by sweeping the series and winning all four games by at least three goals. The Islanders were crowned Stanley Cup champions once again as they beat the Minnesota North Stars in the Finals. The next season, the teams met again in the playoffs, this time in the division finals. The Rangers took game one on the road, but the Islanders won the next three. The Rangers struck back to win game five on the road, but were eliminated in game six. The Islanders swept their opponents in the next two rounds and won the Cup for the third straight year. The teams met in the division finals yet again in the 1982–83 season. The Islanders took a 2–0 series lead by winning two home games, but then the Rangers tied the series at two by winning their home games. The Islanders won games five and six to move to claim their fourth straight Stanley Cup. In the 1983–84 season, the teams fought in the division semifinals. The Islanders took game one, but the Rangers won games two and three 3–0 and 7–2 respectively. The Islanders won game four, and then won the series 3–2 with an overtime win. This time, the Islanders moved on to the Finals, but lost in a rematch to the Oilers. The rivalry remained intense throughout the late 1980s, but only during the regular season. Islanders fans often mocked the Rangers by chanting "1940" to tease them about their Stanley Cup drought, one of the longest championship droughts in NHL history and all of sports.
1990s
In the
2000s
During the 2000s, the Islanders made only four playoff appearances. The Rangers missed the playoffs eight straight years (including the 2004–05 lockout), prior to signing All-Star Jaromir Jagr, and qualifying for the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Rangers made it to the second round in 2007 and 2008 with the help of Swedish goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The Islanders made it to the 2007 playoffs, but were eliminated in the first round.
Announced in 2001, the Pat LaFontaine Trophy was awarded to the winner of the Islanders–Rangers regular season series;[3] it is unclear whether the trophy has been acknowledged by either team since the early 2000s.
2010–present
The Rangers had an eight-game home winning streak versus the Islanders until the Islanders beat them in a shootout on February 14, 2013. This was balanced by the Islanders winning four games in Madison Square Garden during this time.[4]
The Islanders' first overall draft pick in 2009,
On January 29, 2014, the Rangers defeated the Islanders 2–1 in the third game of the 2014 NHL Stadium Series; that game was held at Yankee Stadium. The winning goal was scored by Daniel Carcillo in the third period.
In the 2015–16 season, the Islanders moved from Nassau Coliseum to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, officially making it a true intra-city rivalry within New York City. The Islanders then completed their first-ever season sweep of the Rangers, en route to winning their first playoff series since 1993 defeating the Florida Panthers four games to two.
In the 2017–18 season, the Islanders once again swept the Rangers, improving their record to 11–1–0 against them over the previous three seasons.
In the 2018–19 season, the Islanders began to split their home games between Barclays Center and Nassau Coliseum. The use of both arenas continued until the scheduled 2021 completion of their new home, UBS Arena in Elmont, outside the New York City border. All of the Islanders' home games with the Rangers through the 2019–20 season were scheduled to be played at Barclays Center, but on September 23, the Islanders moved seven more games from the Barclays Center, two of which against the Rangers, making it a total of 28 games to be played at Nassau Coliseum.[5][6]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Islanders and Rangers played eight times in the 2020–21 season, the most games the teams played against each other in a season since the 2007–08 season. The Islanders won six games, en route to making the playoffs over the Rangers.[7]
In the 2021–22 season, teams played the first game of the rivalry in the newly-opened UBS Arena. The Rangers won the inaugural game 4–1, denying the Islanders a chance to beat the Rangers for their first win at UBS Arena.[8] Later in the season, the Islanders would get their revenge, winning both games at Madison Square Garden, and ultimately, both teams finished with a 2–2 record against each other.[citation needed]
Due to changes in the scheduling process, the teams only played three times in the 2022–23 season, all of which were before Christmas. The Islanders, thanks to a third period comeback in the second game out of three, won the overall season series 2–1. The three games the teams played against each other was the fewest number of times the two rivals had played each other in the 50-year history of the rivalry.[4]
Meetings
Regular season
The Islanders and Rangers play each other four times each regular season, with each team hosting two games. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, the rivalry was mostly one-sided in favor of the dominant Islanders, who ultimately won four Stanley Cup championships in a row during that time. However, since 1994, the rivalry has shifted more towards the Rangers. The Rangers won their fourth Stanley Cup in 1994 and have experienced much playoff success since, including five appearances in the Eastern Conference finals in 1997, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2022 (where they lost to two of their biggest rivals other than the Islanders, the Philadelphia Flyers (in 1997) and New Jersey Devils (in 2012)), as well as a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014. The Islanders, on the other hand, did not win a playoff series after 1993 until their victory over the Florida Panthers in 2016 but have gone to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020 and 2021. Since the 2015–16 season the Islanders have won 13 of the last 16 games between the two teams, and at one point had won eight in a row, making the rivalry one-sided in favor of the Islanders as of late.
Playoffs
In 1975, the Islanders made their first trip to the NHL playoffs, facing the heavily favored Rangers in a best-of-three first-round series. After splitting the first two games, the Islanders won game three, and the series, when J. P. Parise scored 11 seconds into overtime. The teams met again in the 1979 playoffs; this time the underdog Rangers were victorious, eliminating the heavily favored Islanders in six games and earning a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals.[9] This was particularly memorable as it continued the Islanders' reputation for playoff "chokes" despite finishing first in the league during the regular season.[9]
The teams met in the playoffs every year from 1981 to 1984; the Islanders won each series by margins of 4–0, 4–2, 4–2 and 3–2 en route to four finals and three Stanley Cups (in addition to their 1980 win to make it four championships and five finals in a row). In the 1990s, the teams met twice, with the Rangers winning 4–1 in 1990, and sweeping the Islanders 4–0 in 1994, en route to winning their first Stanley Cup since 1940. The 1994 first-round playoff series is the most recent meeting between the two teams in the playoffs.
Fan reaction
The Rangers' fanbase generally comes from the city's five boroughs,
During their sweep of the Rangers in the 1981 semifinals, Islander fans started chanting "
Incidents
One well-known incident at an Islanders–Philadelphia Flyers game in 2003 turned a holiday promotion at Nassau Coliseum into an on-ice shoving match between Rangers and Islanders fans in Santa suits.[13]
As of January 2019, the Rangers have beaten the Islanders 146 times while the Islanders have beaten the Rangers 144 times. However, in the playoffs, the Islanders hold the lead with a 20–19 record, and have won five of the eight playoff series between the two teams.
See also
- National Hockey League rivalries
- Devils–Rangers rivalry
- Giants–Jets rivalry
- Knicks–Nets rivalry
- Mets–Yankees rivalry
- Hudson River Derby
References
- ^ Wakeford, Joseph (February 24, 2012). "The Battle of New York: Islanders/Rangers". TheHockeyWriters.com. The Hockey Writers. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
- ^ Duhatschek, Eric (October 19, 2010). "Islanders winning the battle of New York". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
- ^ Diamos, Jason (March 30, 2001). "HOCKEY; Criticism From Low Well Taken by Czechs". The New York Times. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ^ a b "NHL : Series records : New York Islanders against New York Rangers". mcubed.net. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ "Islanders Announce 2018-19 Schedule". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. June 21, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
- ^ "Islanders Announce 2019-20 Schedule". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. June 25, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
- ^ "2020-21 NHL Standings". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ "Rangers 4-1 Islanders (Nov 24, 2021) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Keese, Parton (May 9, 1979). "Rangers Beat Islanders, 2–1, and Gain Stanley Cup Final". New York Times. p. A1.
- ^ Vecsey, George (February 23, 2009). "Potvin Chant Endures with a Smile, Not a Snarl". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
- ^ Eskenazi, Gerald (May 14, 1984). "The Changing Lives of Denis Potvin". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
- ^ Murphy, Austin (June 13, 1994). "CLOSING IN THE NEW YORK RANGERS DREW NEARER TO THEIR GOAL OF WINNING THE STANLEY CUP BY TAKING A 2-1 SERIES LEAD OVER VANCOUVER". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
- ^ "Two jumped after flashing Rangers jerseys - NHL - ESPN". ESPN.com. ESPN Interactive, Inc. December 24, 2003. Retrieved May 23, 2014.