In what was probably the craziest hockey game I have ever witnessed, the New York Rangers beat the New York Islanders, 6-5, on Long Island Thursday night.
The Rangers were fueled by a Marian Gaborik hat trick, his second of the year, and a mid-game goaltending switch to remove Martin Biron and insert Henrik Lundqvist. The move worked, although Biron really wasn't on his game anyway, and Lundqvist helped pull through with the win.
Tonight you can expect much of the same, except that the game will be on a bigger stage in Madison Square Garden.
John Tortorella will probably work with his team on trying to keep calm with a lead. The Rangers have been good with that all year, but for whatever reason they seem to play their worst when facing their arch-rivals in the Islanders. Both starting goaltenders had bad games, and in the Rangers case, expect to see Lundqvist in the net.
There is not word yet on which goaltender the Islanders will start.
The Rangers, who are fighting for some better positioning in the Atlantic, need the two points to help their cause. And honestly, with the way the two teams are playing right now, there's no excuse not to beat the Islanders on home soil tonight.
As for the Islanders? They want to go in and take it to their rivals and walk out of the arena with 18,000 disappointed fans.
We'll see who prevails tonight.