It was 63 games ago, but the sight of Sean Avery in a Rangers uniform tonight at Madison Square Garden is bound to rekindle the rage Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt felt when Avery speared him during a loss to the Los Angeles Kings in the third game of the season. Problem is Witt and the Islanders know the urge for payback takes a backseat to the need for points.
Half of the Rangers' 10 goals in four straight losses to the Islanders came on the power play. Treating Avery as an unmentionable yesterday after practice, Witt said, "They added, uh, that guy from L.A. I forget his name right now. It's going to be a physical battle, and it's going to be emotional. Two big points are up for grabs."
In one win over the Rangers this season, Witt lured Brendan Shanahan and Colton Orr into dropping the gloves and then took their punches to create power plays for the Islanders. But if Avery is in his face, it will be far more difficult to resist temptation.
"Yeah, but you've got to do what's good for the team this time of year," Witt said. "The key is to be disciplined. If you take a selfish penalty, it could come back and hurt the team. He's going to play his game and stir it up because that's the element he brings. We'll just try to contain the little circus act a bit."
Witt was as angry as he's been all season after Avery speared him, saying Avery was "lucky to be alive." Recalling that moment, Witt admitted, "He was trying to get a rise, and I reacted without even thinking. I think [tonight] it's going to be more thinking than reacting."
Of course, Avery isn't the only new addition to the rivalry. The Islanders have fortified their power play with the booming point shot of defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron and the presence of Ryan Smyth in front of the net. Both came from Edmonton, which went into the Battle of Alberta for the first time in 12 seasons without Smyth on the roster Saturday night in a home loss to Calgary.
As the Islanders' win in Washington was winding down that night, coach Ted Nolan spoke to Smyth on the bench about what was coming up. "I said, 'Ryan, the atmosphere in the Battle of Alberta between Edmonton and Calgary is intense, but Islanders and Rangers is pretty intense, too.' I'm quite sure he'll enjoy the emotion and passion."
Nolan praised the mental toughness Witt showed earlier against the Rangers when he turned the other cheek. Witt did it again in Washington, drawing a double minor against Capitals enforcer Donald Brashear to set up the Islanders' third power-play goal, a thunderous one-timer by Bergeron.
"If we're disciplined and stay out of the box as much as we can and work, teams are going to start pulling us down," Nolan said. "Then we have a weapon on our power play maybe they haven't seen. If they do want to take foolish penalties, hopefully, they'll pay for it."
Just as the Islanders had to improve their power play, four straight losses to the Islanders was a compelling reason for the Rangers to add Avery's toughness. Islanders enforcer Chris Simon spent last season in Calgary and respects the hockey skill Avery possesses along with his knack for instigating.
"He's a real -- I don't know how to say it nicely -- a disturber out there," Simon said. "That's his game. I don't necessarily think you need to get involved with him. Whistle to whistle, play hard against him, but once the whistle blows, nothing's going to happen."
