Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) Last season, the New York Rangers took only three of eight games from their also-ran rivals, the New York Islanders. With only six games on this season's schedule, the Rangers are already off to a good start.

Tough angle: Detroit's Dan Cleary takes a shot as Kings goalie Jason LaBarbera defends on Monday night. AP PHOTO

Team captain Chris Drury scored his first two goals and Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves in a 4-2 victory over the Islanders on Monday night. The Rangers (9-2-1) tied the franchise record for best start through 12 games and have the most points in the NHL. The Islanders (2-6) own the fewest.

"It's still early in the season, so who knows where everybody ends up," said Tom Renney, who passed Roger Neilson for fourth place on the Rangers' coaching victory list with No. 142. "These are important games because we do have a good point total and we want to add to that. If that is at the expense of somebody in our division, great.

"It doesn't matter what people quantify their game as, they're an NHL team that can beat anybody on any given night."

Drury, who has bounced around between various linemates in Renney's quest to find a trio that clicks, scored off a deflection 56 seconds in against backup goalie Joey MacDonald.

He added a power-play tally during a long two-man advantage with 7:26 remaining to make it 4-1. Ryan Callahan and Scott Gomez both netted their third goals for the Rangers, who have won three straight.

Both of Drury's goals hit Islanders before beating MacDonald.

Kyle Okposo tied it 1-1 in the final seconds of the first period, and Mark Streit added a short-handed goal with 1:56 left in the game for the Islanders, who dropped their fourth straight.

Ducks 3, Blue Jackets 2

In Columbus, Teemu Selanne scored a power-play goal with 3:55 left, helping Anaheim beat the Blue Jackets.

The game was played before 10,494, the smallest NHL crowd ever at Nationwide Arena.

Senators 5, Sabres 2

In Buffalo, Jason Spezza had two goals and an assist, and Alex Auld made 25 saves in Ottawa's victory over the Sabres that snapped the Senators' four-game losing streak.

Ottawa (6-1-2) came in as the only Eastern Conference team without a regulation loss.

Wild 3, Blackhawks 2

In St. Paul, Minn., Mikko Koivu assisted on goals by Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen and Brent Burns to lead Minnesota over Chicago.

The Wild (6-0-1) are the only NHL team without a regulation loss despite playing the last five games without star Marian Gaborik.

Bruins 1, Oilers 0 (OT)

In Edmonton, Dennis Wideman scored 3:18 into OT and Tim Thomas made 27 saves, leading Boston over the hosts.

Wideman scored on the power play after Shawn Horcoff went off for hooking midway through the extra period. He beat Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson high to the glove side.

It was Thomas' eighth career shutout for the Bruins (4-2-3), who won two straight for the first time this season.

Red Wings 4, Kings 3 (SO)

In Los Angeles, Valtteri Filppula took advantage of a sloppy turnover to score the tying goal with 1:54 left in the third, and the Red Wings got goals from Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg in a shootout to beat the Kings.

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