Jaroslav Halak might not have been perfect, but the Islanders goalie continued to find a way to beat the Rangers.
Halak stopped 2-of-3 attempts in the shootout and backstopped his team to a 4-3 victory over the Blueshirts on Thursday night at the Garden. Halak came in with a 6-2 record as an Islander against the Rangers on Broadway, with a 2.29 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. In his previous 22 career games against the Rangers (which included nine as a member of the Canadiens and three with the Blues), Halak was 14-7 with a 2.57 goals against average and .921 save percentage.
“I’m not trying to pay attention to it,” Halak said after making 38 saves on 41 shots. “I’m just trying to focus on every game the same way. There are games that you play better in than the others. Maybe I do play better against the Rangers. Like I said, I’m not trying pay too much attention to it.”
Coach Doug Weight certainly paid attention to it when deciding between Halak and Thomas Greiss as the starter.
“When you’re talking about a body of work, you’re not talking about a 2-1 record or something. It’s pretty substantial, and he’s got a lot of confidence against this team,” Weight said. “Whatever the reason, feels good in this building and he’s got great results. When that body of work as thick as it is for him, that’s something to go into the decision, for sure.”
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Rangers coach Alain Vigneault decided to dress forward Adam Cracknell as the fourth-line center for the second straight game, but Cracknell didn’t see the ice after the 16:58 mark of the second period. As the Rangers tried to come back from a 3-1 deficit, most of the shifts between fourth-line wingers Michael Grabner and Pavel Buchnevich were taken by Mika Zibanejad.
The healthy scratch for the Rangers up-front was Paul Carey, while Steven Kampfer and Nick Holden were out on the back end.
Weight scratched 20-year-old forward Anthony Beauvillier for the third straight game, but was not considering sending the first-round pick (No. 28 overall) from 2015 down to AHL Bridgeport just yet.
“He’s a NHL player,” Weight said. “I want to get him back in sooner than later because he’s had a really good camp and he hasn’t lost any of our good graces. He’s a heck of a player and he’s going to be in this league a long time. We’ll see where it leads.”