• Rangers Storm Back, Top Isles 4-3

By Jim Cerny, newyorkrangers.com

Rangers forward Aaron Voros had an assist on  Marian Gaborik’s 40th goal on Tuesday. Voros, who gr…

The Rangers committed two penalties and gave up a pair of goals by the 15:02 mark of the first period.
For a team, as Henrik Lundqvist said afterward, that was “desperate,” it’s not the start they were looking for against the Islanders — who are all but mathematically…

This isn’t the time for big-picture analysis. The summer is the time for that necessary examination of the season. This isn’t the time for putting things in context, either, because the context is written solely in the standings.
And so the context of last night’s 4-3 victory…

Boston and Atlanta won, too, to keep the Rangers, who beat the Islanders, four points and two places out. So when Olli Jokinen said last night he didn’t “want to talk about the past,” odds remain strong that “past” probably already has doomed the 2009-10 Rangers.
Jokinen, dormant practically…

A half a dozen games remain, and with Boston and Atlanta winning last night (thank the Devils again, gang), time might be running short for your heroes.

This was a good win, considering from where they had to come, down 0-2. But it’s really dis…

Rangers alumni Ron Greschner, Pete Stemkowski and Nick Fotiu talk about their participation in the March 30 Rangers Viewing Party at Mulcahy’s in Wantagh.

“Two-goal lead is one of the worst leads in hockey,” Marian Gaborik was saying. “You get comfortable or something.”

This quote would have been a nice fit for Gaborik’s own club had he said it Saturday in Toronto, but tonight he was talking about the Islanders, who came out as expected in the first period - “Swinging,” as P.A. Parenteau put it - while the Rangers, who have turned in some terrible first periods this season, added another one to the list. But several players said they liked how the room at first intermission had not a trace of panic in it - that they liked their game plan and felt they could win with it.

Two things happened early in the second period that opened the door wide: first, of course, Vinny Prospal scored just 1:14 in. Then, after Michal Rozsival took a slashing penalty and Brandon Prust - who overall has played very well recently - took an inexcusable boarding penalty on John Tavares, the Rangers managed to salt away both minors that included 1:02 of 5-on-3 time. As much as that energized the Rangers, it seemed to take all the air out of the Islanders, who crumbled the rest of the way.

So all the Rangers did was keep pace tonight - important enough - because with the Bruins and Thrashers winning, the Rangers remain four points out of the playoffs and two points out of ninth. But they are also four points out of sixth place. Again, welcome to the weak East.

The best line for the Rangers tonight was the Vinny Prospal-Olli Jokinen-Parenteau unit, which combined for five points, a plus-9 rating and nine shots. Parenteau has been at least among the Rangers’ best forwards in his two games since being called up from Hartford, while Jokinen and Prospal played their best games in a while - a long while in Jokinen’s case. The Finnish center scored his first goal since his OT winner in Pittsburgh on Feb. 12.

“We connected right away,” Parenteau said, and perhaps nowhere was that more evident than on Marc Staal’s third-period goal that turned out to be the winner. Parenteau found he had a little time and space once he got the puck at the red-line boards, so he took it, waiting for Prospal to cut through before sliding a pass onto his tape that sprung a 2-on-1. Prospal relayed to the aggressive Staal, who finished it off and gave the Rangers a goal they wound up needing.

“You look at Parenteau, he’s a creative guy - a lot of guys would have dumped that puck in before that flow, but he held onto it and made a great play, and we got a guy joining,” John Tortorella said. “Obviously that got us the winning goal, it’s a huge goal.”

Gaborik, meanwhile, reached 40 goals for the second time in his career and became the 18th Ranger to do so. He was happy that the assist on the play came from Aaron Voros, with whom he was teammates and often linemates in Minnesota.

“He doesn’t get a chance to play a whole lot, but when he comes in he brings a lot of energy and a lot of jump,” Gaborik said of Voros. “He was fresh. He has played a great two games for us here.”

Jokinen, meanwhile, had kind words for his own linemate, Parenteau, saying the Ranger rookie reminds him of his old Florida teammate Jozef Stumpel - “same righthanded shot, and sees the ice well. Maybe not the fastest guy but he battles hard in the corners. He’s been really good for us the past two games.”

From the Rangers:

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
March 30, 2010 – New York Rangers 4, New York Islanders 3 (Game #76, Road #37)
• The Blueshirts defeated the New York Islanders, 4-3, tonight at Nassau Coliseum, to close out their season ser…