So this is it. For the last time, for the last time during the regular season and the last time as scheduled, it is the Rangers and Islanders at the Coliseum.
Tuesday night, for the 127th time on Long Island, the Battle of New York. Add 19 playoff matches, and, to borrow a phrase from Sam Rosen, the memories produced will last a lifetime.
This final 2014-15 meeting between two eastern powers battling for the Metropolitan Division championship and first seed in the conference doesn’t mark the end of the Battle. It will continue into eternity in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
But, unless we get Rangers-Islanders in the playoffs, a possibility in any of the first three rounds of the tournament depending upon seeds, this is it on Long Island.
The following represents The Post’s Top 10 Rangers-Islanders (or Islanders-Rangers, if you prefer) moments at the Coliseum:
10. Trots goes wild
Bryan Trottier recorded a franchise-record eight points with a five-goal, three-assist outburst in the Islanders’ 9-4 victory on Dec. 23, 1978. Linemates Mike Bossy (2-3=5) and Clark Gillies (0-4=4) added to the holiday festivities five months before the Rangers would twist history their way in the 1979 Cup semifinals.
9. The Chicken Dance
The Rivalry turned to farce for much of the seven-year stretch from 1997-98 through 2003-04 in which the Rangers did not make the playoffs, with extracurriculars dominating the matchups. This was also when the “Chicken Dance” song (“The Rangers Suck!”) was a regular feature on the Coliseum playlist. On Nov. 8, 2001, Theo Fleury, a favorite target of abuse from the Coliseum crowd, stood in front of the Blueshirts bench during a first-period stop of play, flapping his arms wildly at Eric Cairns in his own version of the song while the Islanders defenseman sat in the penalty box after deferring on a fight with Sandy McCarthy. Cairns and Fleury engaged in a brief screaming match in the locker room corridor following the Rangers’ 6-2 victory.
8. D-P challenges Montoya
This is the only exhibition game moment that made the list, with Rick DiPietro and the Rangers’ Al Montoya engaging in the second-most-famous goaltender fight in the history of the Rivalry in the wake of renewed hostilities between Chris Simon and Ryan Hollweg on Sept. 24, 2007. This was more a wrestling match than a bout, Montoya a reluctant participant. DiPietro should have been so lucky four years later when he tangled with Pittsburgh netminder Brent Johnson.
7. First playoff game
April 10, 1975. The Islanders, off a Game 1, 3-2 victory at the Garden, host their first postseason match ever, seeking to clinch the best-of-three preliminary round series. Instead, the night devolved into a series of brawls generating 170 PIMs after the Rangers took a 3-0 lead within the opening 7:01 and a 6-1 lead midway through the second on their way to an 8-3 victory. The next night at the Garden, however … does 11 seconds of overtime ring a bell?
6. Ice (Girls) follies
As was his custom all season, Henrik Lundqvist remained in his crease during a television timeout even as the Islanders’ “Ice Girls” attempted to sweep the area in front of the net, even after being directed to do so with 5:13 remaining in the first period of what would become a 3-2 Islanders shootout victory in April 2007. One of the women, Kelli Higgins, alleged the goaltender had used his stick to swipe at her squeegee as she attempted to work around her. The defeat left the Rangers one point shy of clinching a playoff berth. At practice the following day, Lundqvist said: “The first 65 games I didn’t have to move. Suddenly, on Long Island, I had to move?”
5. Bobby Bourne, coast-to-coast
It was the third period of Game 5 of the 1983 Patrick Division finals when Bourne, an elite skater, picked up the puck behind his own net and started up the right side. No. 14 beat one man up the wing, a second as he cut toward the middle through the neutral zone, and a third as he crossed the Rangers’ line on the left. Bourne completed his breathtaking dash with an outside-inside move on Reijo Ruotsalainen while putting the puck between his skates and splitting the D-pair that included Barry Beck before beating Eddie Mio. The goal gave the Islanders a 5-1 lead in a 7-2 victory. The Islanders captured the series in six at the Garden.
4. Double chili
On Nov. 13, 1979, the Islanders were running a season-long promotion in which fans were able to get a free bowl of chili at Wendy’s following games in which the home team scored at least six goals. In this one, the Islanders scored six times to seize a 6-2 lead by 7:32 of the second period. The score mounted to 8-2 by the intermission, at which time a Wendy’s executive in attendance authorized an announcement that the fast food chain would offer free bowls of double chili if the Islanders reached double figures. They did, when Denis Potvin scored at 12:07 of the third for a 10-3 lead in what would become a 10-5 victory. Rangers netminder Doug Soetaert allowed 10 goals on 26 shots in 52:07.
3. Simon chop shop
At 13:29 of the third period on March 8, 2007, Islanders enforcer Chris Simon cracked Ryan Hollweg across the jaw with his stick on a baseball-like checked swing in the aftermath of being drilled hard into the glass by Hollweg. Simon, who received a match penalty, served a 25-game suspension.
2. Cloutier vs. Salo (and the world)
Islanders coach Mike Milbury called a timeout after his team had taken a 3-0 lead at 12:17 of the third period of this April 4, 1998, match. Less than a minute later, a series of fights including Bill Berg vs. Trevor Linden, Darren Langdon vs. Zdeno Chara and P.J. Stock vs. Mariusz Czerkawski erupted. When Islanders goaltender Tommy Salo attempted to come to the aid of Czerkawski, Blueshirts netminder Dan Cloutier went the length of the ice to join the fray. Cloutier, his jersey having come free, pounded Salo into submission, at one point throwing 15 unanswered punches. When the bout came to its merciful end, Cloutier skated in front of the Islanders bench and challenged the entire team to come get him.
1. Winner take all
The only must-win ever played between the two teams at the Coliseum, Game 5 of the first round of the 1984 playoffs, the Islanders seeking to keep alive their Drive for Five. The Islanders, who had staved off elimination with a 7-2 victory in Game 4 at the Garden, held a 2-1 lead late in the third period when Don Maloney scored a disputed goal on what may have been a high stick by batting a rebound past Billy Smith with 39 seconds remaining in the third period. The Islanders then won it at 8:56 of overtime when Ken Morrow’s shot from the right side slid through a screen to beat Glen Hanlon for the five-game victory on April 10, 1984.