Okposo scores in shootout, Halak finishes with 33 saves as Islanders beat

A black-and-white alternate jersey the Islanders introduced in Brooklyn has become a top seller in the National Hockey League, and it'll be the uniform they wear the next time they take on the Rangers in January at Barclays Center.

The expansion Islanders were in a state-of-the-art arena called the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Islanders win 2-1 and can walk a little taller tomorrow.

This time, the hosts beat the guests. "These games are always a lot of fun to play in".

But Halak made 33 saves over the course of the match, including overtime, and made a further three crucial stops during the shootout, leaving Okposo to seal the narrowest of victories. "They had a lot of fans here tonight, as well as did".

The Islanders snapped a scoreless tie by taking advantage of a 5-on-3 opportunity at with 7:38 left in the second. "Certainly, it's obviously a different building, but it had the same intensity, the rivalry, the passion from the fans who were there". Thousands of people would be chanting "Potvin sucks" one minute, and then the next, thousands of others would be singing a tune of "If you know the Rangers suck, clap your hands". "Potvin Sucks!" made its appearance in voice, while Mike Bossy and Clark Gillies appeared in the flesh.

With traumatic memories of their last shootout still fresh, Islanders fans would be excused for not feeling confident in a victory. When the Rangers excelled, it sounded like the Madison Square Garden satellite office.

"But Rangers-Islanders is a completely different animal".

"It was loud. Loudest game this year for me, anyway". "I don't think we hit our stride the way that we can play", he said.

Fans took turns out-booing one another during introductions and traded slightly off-color chants in a stairwell after a first period in which the Rangers outshot the Islanders 13-6. The keys for the Isles in this game are for Halak to have a big game stopping the Rangers talented shooters and scoring on the power play against Lundqvist for the Rangers. He patiently skated out to the slot and used an Anders Lee screen to put the puck past Lundqvist for the 1-0 lead. So if he has a big game in this one against the Rangers' rivals, he could possibly be back in the Rangers good graces.

Stalberg redirected Marc Staal's shot past Halak to tie it with 1:23 remaining in the period. "I go in spurts it seems".

"It was a game we needed for ourselves".

"The game had a little bit of everything".

The goal by Stalberg yielded a louder cheer from Rangers fans than Tavares did from the Islanders fans. San Jose (14-9-0, 28 pts; 2nd in Pacific Division) won the previous meeting between the two teams on November 21 in Pittsburgh, as Patrick Marleau eclipsed the 1000-point mark for his career with two assists in a 3-1 win.

"Both teams had some good looks, the goaltending was good on both sides", Vigneault said.

Brooklyn got a taste of the rivalry tonight. The trio was on the ice for two of New York's three third-period goals against Colorado Monday night.