Hockey Notebook: Islanders prepare for Round 2, Rangers face elimination

"UNB! Network" Tri-State Sports Report

The New York Islanders are moving on to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

After defeating the Florida Panthers in six games in Round 1, the Islanders will play Game 1 of Round 2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.

The Islanders will be looking to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals by winning the series against Tampa.

Rangers eliminated: The New York Rangers were eliminated from the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs in five games to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the fifth game taking place on Saturday.

The Penguins will play the Washington Capitals in Round 2 of the playoffs.

Islanders score five, defeat Panthers 5-4 to take series lead

"UNB! Network" Tri-State Sports Report

The New YORK Islanders went into their first 2016 playoff game on Thursday night hoping to take a 1-0 series lead over the Florida Panthers.

They did.

The Islanders had goals from Frans Nielsen, Brock Nelson, John Tavares, Ryan Strome and Kyle Okposo to defeat the Panthers 5-4.

Thomas Greiss made 42 saves for the Islanders, and posted a .913 save percentage.

Jussi Jokinen, Teddy Purcell and Reilly Smith (2) scored for the Panthers.

Roberto Luongo made 22 saves for the the Panthers, and had an .808 save percentage.

The Panthers outshot the Islanders 46-26.

Game two of the series is on Friday at 7:30pm ET.

Rangers lose Lundqvist in loss to Penguins; Hellberg recalled

"UNB! Network" Tri-State Sports Report

The New York Rangers didn't just lose their first playoff game of 2016 on Wednesday, they also lost starting goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist was injured in the first period of the 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

As a corresponding move, the Rangers on Thursday recalled goaltender Magnus Hellberg from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League.

Hockey Notebook: Rangers, Islanders prepare for playoffs

"UNB! Network" Tri-State Sports Report

The Rangers and the Islanders are currently preparing
for the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, which start
Wednesday.

The New York Rangers and the New York Islanders will be looking to expand their 2015-16 season campaigns by advancing through the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Rangers play their first game of round one against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, and the Islanders play their first round one game against the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

With Islanders starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak currently injured, Islanders backup goaltender Thomas Greiss is excited to be making his first playoff start.

"I haven't played that much [in the playoffs], but I've been around teams often enough that have made deep playoff runs," Greiss, who was a member of the Sharks from 2007-13 and backed up Marc-Andre Fleury with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, told the Islanders website. "I know the atmosphere and that kind of stuff, so it's not going to be too surprising. It's going to be fun. Both buildings are going to be loud, the fans are going to be into it and the teams are going to be excited with lots of energy."

Also, Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic may play in game one on Thursday after suffering from an injury that caused him to miss the end of the regular season.

As for the Rangers, the team will start their series against the Penguins without elite defenseman and team captain Ryan McDonagh. Head coach Alain Vigneault has a choice of if he wants to play Dylan McIlrath to fill the voids that are made due to McDonagh not in the lineup, or if he wants to play recently called up defenseman Brady Skjei instead of McIlrath.

McDonagh practiced the past two days and may return at some point in the series.

Mets win hope opener 7-2 against Phillies

"UNB Network" Tri-State Sports Report

The New York Mets managed to win their home opener against the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Friday afternoon.

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom pitched six innings and posted an ERA of 1.50.

Neil Walker (2), Lucas Duda (2), Yoenis Cespedes, David Wright and Michael Conforto scored runs for the Mets, while Jerad Eickhoff and Peter Bourjos scored runs for the Phillies.

Islanders lose Lee in win against Rangers

"UNB! Network" Tri-State Sports Report

Anders Lee was injured in the Islanders 4-1 victory
over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

The New York Islanders were definitely celebrating after their 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night, completing a season sweep against the team for the first time in the two teams' history.

But then, the Islanders got some bad news.

Islanders forward Anders Lee sustained a broken left fibula in the game, and is labeled as being out indefinitely.

Lee blocked a shot from teammate Johnny Boychuk in the first period in the game against the Rangers.

In the game, Thomas Greiss stopped 36 of 37 shots for the Islanders,  

“Beating the Rangers is always great,” Islanders center John Tavares said. “There was a lot of significance with positioning today. But I think we know we didn’t play our best, our goaltender really won us that game today. We capitalized on some chances and [Thomas Greiss] made some huge saves to keep us in the game. We did some good things, but we I think we know we can be a lot better than we were today."

GAME NOTES
Officials:
Referees: Dan O'Rourke, Gord Dwyer
Linesmen: Scott Driscoll, Brad Kovachik

Head Coaches:
Jack Capuano (New York Islanders)
Alain Vigneault (New York Rangers)

New York Islanders Scratches: Jean-Francois Berube, Cal Clutterbuck, Mikhail Grabovski, Jaroslav Halak, Travis Hamonic, Matt Martin, Scott Mayfield, Brian Strait

New York Rangers Scratches: Dan Girardi, Oscar Lindberg, Ryan McDonagh  

Hockey Notebook: Islanders clinh berth; Rangers down two defenseman

"UNB! Network" Tri-State Sports Report

Rangers defenseman Dan Griardt was injured in the
team's 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on
Tuesday night. 

Islanders clinch playoff berth: The New York Islanders managed to clinch a playoff berth on Tuesday night with a 4-3 victory over the President-Trophy-winning Washington Capitals.

"He played extremely well for us," coach Jack Capuano said of Christophr Gibson, who was recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis Monday and played on Tuesday after Jean-Francois Berube sustained a lower-body injury. "It just shows the confidence and poise that he has. He gave us a chance to win the game, and he was our best player tonight."

John Tavares, Thomas Hickey, Anders Lee, and Kyle Okposo scored, and Gibson made 29 saves for the Islanders.

Braden Holtby made 23 saves, Alex Ovechkin had two goals and T.J. Oshie scored for the Capitals.

The Capitals outshot the Islanders 32-27.

Rangers lose Girardi in win against Lightning: The New York Rangers' 4-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night wasn't all positive.

The Rangers lost defenseman Dan Girardi with only about a minute left in the game after Lightning forward Brian Byle slammed Girardi shoulder-first into the boards.

The Rangers already lost defenseman Ryan McDonagh the night before in the team's 4-2 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets after McDonagh blocked a shot in the first period. McDonagh's injury prompted the recall of Brady Skjei from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League.

Girardi was being evaluated after the game, but Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault said the initial reports from the Rangers' medical staff were positive.

Yankees lose Opening Day to Astros 5-3

"UNB! Network" Tri-State Sports Report

Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) is safe at 2nd
base as the throw to New York Yankees shortstop Starlin Castro 
(14) is late in the 7th inning on Opening Day against the Houston
Astros Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at Yankee Stadium. (Credit:
Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.)

The New York Yankees were unable to get the victory in their first game of the 2016 season at home against the Houston Astros.

The Yankees lost the game 5-3.

Masahiro Tanaka started the game for the Yankees and pitched 5.2 innings and had an ERA of 3.18.

Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, and Didi Gregorious all scored runs for the Yankees.

Jose Altuve (2), Carlos Correa (2) and Colby Rasmus scored runs for the Astros.

Dallas Keuchel pitched 7 runs for the Astros. He gave up three hits and gave up two runs.

The Astros took a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning, but the Yankees decided to play the remainder of the game under protest due to the controversial events of the scoring.

Rangers recal defenseman Brady Skjei from Hartford Wolf Pack

"UNB! Network" Tri-State Sports Report

Brady Skjei

The New York Rangers on Tuesday recalled defenseman Brady Skjeu from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League.

Skie was recalled due to the injury sustained to defenseman Ryan McDonagh in the Rangers 4-2 win on Monday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets that earned the team a playoff berth.

Skjei, 22, has played in four games with the Rangers this season. He made his NHL debut on Dec. 15 against the Edmonton Oilers.

Rangers clinch playoff berth with victory over Blue Jackets

"UNB! Network" Tri-State Sports Report

The Rangers clinched a playoff berth on Monday
night with a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue
Jackets (Getty Images) 

COLUMBUS -- The New York Rangers did clinch a playoff berth with their 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night, but they did lose defenseman Ryan McDonagh in the game after McDonagh blocked a shot in the first period.

"At this time he'll be reevaluated [Tuesday]," Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault said. "We're in that phase here where we're 'upper-body,' 'lower-body,' so we're calling it 'an upper-body."

With the win, the Rangers ended a three-game losing streak to qualify for the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season.

"It's a good feeling for sure," defenseman Marc Staal said. "We would have liked to have gotten it done the last couple of games but tonight we got it done. We deserved to get in."

The Rangers out-shot the Blue Jackets 30-29.

Chris Kreider, Dan Boyle, Mats Zuccarello, and Derek Stepan scored for the Rangers, while Nick Foligno had both of the Blue Jackets' goals.

Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for the Rangers, while Joonas Korpisalo made 26 saves for the Blue Jackets.

"It's a great feeling, a proud feeling," Lundqvist said. "It hasn't been pretty at times; at times it's been great. But playing in this League it's a grind and it's about finding ways to win a lot of games."

GAME NOTES:
Officials:
Referees: Tim Peel, Ghislain Hebert
Linesmen: Darren Gibbs, Matt MacPherson

Head Coaches:
Alain Vigneault: (New York Rangers)
John Tortorella: (Columbus Blue Jackets)

New York Rangers Scratches: Oscar Lindberg, Dylan McIlrath

Columbus Blue Jackets Scratches: Rene Bourque, David Clarkson, Scott Hartnell, Curtis McElhinney, Fedor Tyutin