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The Skinny: Rangers 5, Isles 2

"The Skinny" By Eric Hornick Game 68 Rangers 5, Isles 2 Johnny Brodzinski broke a 2-2 tie with 4:59 left in the middle period and ...

Saturday, February 16, 2013

The dreaded Post-Ranger letdown

The Islanders did something that they haven't done in over three years on Thursday: win a game at Madison Square Garden (defeating the Rangers 4-3 in a shootout).

History will tell you that this puts the Islanders in a difficult spot tonight, their first game after winning a game at MSG. The Isles have also lost their last six straight games that followed a win at Madison Square Garden; they are 7-24-10 all-time in games following MSG victories.

The Isles last win in a game following an MSG win was on January 11. 2007 in Boston -- a 5-4 shootout win.
The Isles last win AT HOME in a game following an MSG win was on October 20, 2005 -- a 5-4 win over the Rangers at the Coliseum (after winning a shootout in MSG the previous night).

However, the truly ridiculous stat is this: the last time the Isles won at MSG, and then came home and beat anyone other than the Rangers in the very next game at the Coliseum: January 10, 1987 -- a 3-2 win over Toronto the night after a 2-1 win at MSG.   Since then the Isles are 2-20-4 in games immediately following an MSG win.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

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