Rangers-Islanders rivalry made memories at Coliseum

With the New York Rangers and New York Islanders trending toward the top of the Eastern Conference, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said prior to a game between the teams in January, "It's going to be a New York classic."

That game took place at Madison Square Garden, where the Rangers and Islanders have played twice this season. But their game Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN-US, TVA Sports, SN1) holds special meaning outside of its ramifications on the Metropolitan Division standings. With the Islanders moving to Brooklyn next season, it will be the last regular-season game against the Rangers at Nassau Coliseum.

The Coliseum, which opened in 1972, has been the site of many spectacular moments in the Rangers-Islanders rivalry. They have played there 125 times in the regular season heading into Tuesday; the Islanders are 65-48-4 with eight ties, and the Rangers 52-63-2 with eight ties.

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ON THE ICE

To put it simply, Rangers-Islanders games were different. 



Pat LaFontaine spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Islanders, scoring 287 goals in 530 regular-season games. He was a rookie in 1983-84, the season after the Islanders won their fourth straight Stanley Cup.

Things went up a level when the Rangers came to Nassau County. 



"During the course of an 82-game season, coaches would have to find ways to motivate players. But when you played the Rangers, there was no motivation needed," said LaFontaine, vice president of hockey development and community affairs for the NHL. "It was just set in stone; this is a tradition, this is all-out war in a sense you do whatever it takes to win.

"This is the battle of New York. It was just written in stone."

LaFontaine scored 13 goals in 15 games in 1983-84. By the time the Stanley Cup Playoffs started, LaFontaine said he was just hoping to contribute.

"What made it extra special was all the players at that period of time, as great as it was during the regular season, they kept saying, 'Wait until the playoffs, wait until the playoffs,'" LaFontaine said. "And sure enough, it was one of the most amazing atmospheres."



The Islanders opened the playoffs against the Rangers at the Coliseum on April 4, 1984. They won 4-1, and LaFontaine had a goal and an assist. It was his introduction to playoff hockey, and a moment that sticks out for him in Rangers-Islanders history at the Coliseum. 



"I remember during the National Anthem, and it was unique, and I haven't seen it in any other building, they had a whole section that had sparklers that they lit," LaFontaine said. "Of course you can't do that today, but I remember looking around and the smoke from the sparklers and the excitement. And then to come out and win your first playoff game; I had just turned 19."



BEHIND THE SCENES

They just wanted to eat their chili. They got to, and then some.

Today, when the Islanders win, fans get 50 percent off regular menu-priced orders online from Papa John's the next day. In the late 1970s, when the Islanders scored six goals in a game, it meant fans in attendance received a free bowl of chili from Wendy's.

That changed for one game, on Nov. 13, 1979, when, with a Wendy's executive in attendance, it was announced in the middle of the game that if the Islanders scored 10 goals, it would mean double chili. The Islanders defeated the Rangers 10-5 in what became known as the "Double Chili Game."

Ken Morrow scored the game-winning goal in Game 5
of the 1984 Patrick Division semi-finals against the
New York Rangers, keeping the Islanders "Drive for
Five" alive.
Photo: Getty Images (Click to enlarge)

The game was tied 2-2 entering the second period, putting the Islanders on pace for chili but not double chili. When the puck dropped to start the second, the Islanders came out fast; Wayne Merrick scored the Islanders' sixth goal before the midway point. The Islanders pushed their lead to 8-2, and that was when the announcement was made: Should the Islanders reach 10 goals, the chili payout would be doubled. 



"The fans went crazy and thought it would be the greatest," said Islanders statistician Eric Hornick, a 15-year-old fan at the Coliseum that day. "I remember thinking, 'This is the greatest thing I've ever seen.' A lot of Islanders fans felt the same way."


Garry Howatt scored the Islanders' ninth goal, and then with 12:07 remaining in the game, Denis Potvin scored to make it 10-3. Free double chili had been reached.

"When they got that 10th goal, it was kind of like bedlam in the building for double chili," Hornick said. "If there was one person the Rangers did not want to score the goal for double chili, it was Denis Potvin, and that's exactly who scored it.

"The funny Islander-Ranger connection is that when [broadcaster] Howie Rose was hired by the Islanders, his wife took him to Wendy's to celebrate and bought him chili."

Hornick was also present for perhaps the most iconic Islanders-Rangers moment at the Coliseum. In the same series LaFontaine made his playoff debut in 1984, Ken Morrow clinched it for the Islanders in overtime of a decisive Game 5 to keep their hopes of a five-peat alive. 



"The Morrow game featured what people called, or what I think Dick Irvin said about it at the time, and he kind of knows a little bit about hockey, the greatest overtime that was ever played," Hornick said. "It was just absolute chaos for eight minutes and 56 seconds before Kenny Morrow did what he always seemed to do, which was score ridiculously big goals for the Islanders."

After winning Game 1 of the best-of-5 series, the Islanders lost the next two. They staved off elimination by staging a comeback in the third period of Game 4 at Madison Square Garden, and the stage was set for the series to be decided at Nassau Coliseum. 



"That was in an era when the thought was the Islanders were going to always, always, always find a way," Hornick said.

The overtime almost never happened. Don Maloney tied the game for the Rangers with 39 seconds remaining in regulation; to this day it's debated whether the puck was knocked in with a high stick.

That set the stage for Morrow. 



"For a guy that scored relatively few goals in his NHL career, he had a few just incredibly important goals for the Islanders in the playoffs, including this one, which gave them their 17th straight series win," Hornick said.

IN THE STANDS

Most times when the Islanders and Rangers play at the Coliseum, the crowd is split 50-50.

Dan Girardi was the unlikely hero for the New York Rangers in a 1-0 overtime victory over the Islanders on April 20, 2013. (Photo: Mike Stobe/NHLI)

On April 13, 2013, the Rangers and Islanders played one of those classically stubborn games of their rivalry. Competing fan chants reverberated off the Coliseum walls. The teams combined for 49 shots on goal, 36 blocked shots and 39 hits. And to raise the stakes, each team entered the game headed to the playoffs with two points separating them in the standings: the Islanders at 46 and the Rangers at 44.

"I remember that one because it was 1-0 and the Islanders were really fighting for their playoff lives," said Dan Saraceni, an editor at Islanders fan blog Lighthouse Hockey. "That was a big one because it was just punch-for-punch, and a 1-0 overtime game is really exciting, especially in those circumstances."

Like Game 5 in the 1984 playoffs, a defenseman, and one not known for his offensive prowess, scored the decisive goal. Goalies Henrik Lundqvist and Evgeni Nabokov dueled through 60 minutes of scoreless hockey. Lundqvist flashed his glove in the first period to get a piece of Matt Martin's point-blank shot, and Nabokov sprawled on his side in the second to deny Carl Hagelin's attempt. Players from each team hit posts and came close to scoring the regulation-time winner, but instead the game headed to overtime.

"To get a point was OK," Saraceni said. "But to lose was like, 'Oh come on, really? This game?'"

The Rangers squandered a minute of carryover power-play time to open overtime, and it looked like the game was destined for a shootout. But with 1:49 remaining Dan Girardi found space behind the Islanders defense, took a pass from Derick Brassard, and walked in and beat Nabokov over his blocker for a 1-0 win.

It was Girardi's second goal of 2012-13 and his only game-winner that season.

"Of course Dan Girardi has to be the guy," Saraceni said. "I remember Rangers people were like, 'Come on, really? Dan Girardi of all people?' It was as unlikely an overtime goal-scorer as you could think of."

When the Islanders and Rangers play, it's always safe to expect the unexpected.

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