John Tortorella Pulls the Right Strings in Rangers' 6-5 Win Against Islanders

by Christopher Botta

Filed under: Islanders, Rangers

A pair of changes by John Tortorella worked out perfectly for the New York Rangers' in their 6-5 victory over the New York Islanders in a thriller on Thursday at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The decision by the Rangers head coach to move sparkplug Sean Avery to the line with star sniper Marian Gaborik and playmaker Erik Christensen paid off immediately. Gaborik had three goals, Avery three assists and Christensen scored a goal and added an assist.

"I thought Sean did a great job of initiating the forecheck and keeping the puck," said Tortorella in his postgame press conference. "Obviously, it was a pretty important line for us tonight."

After the Islanders rallied in the third period on goals by Michael Grabner and Blake Comeau to tie the game at 5-5, Gaborik scored just 25 seconds later at 14:35 on assists by Avery and Christensen.

 

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