Anyone who thought the New York Rangers were worthy of playoff positioning or contention in the race for the playoffs, need look no further than the listless, dismal effort on Tuesday night at the Garden for the counter point.
Thomas Greiss made 40 saves off the crest against the Rangers – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The New York Islanders easily handled the Rangers by going out to a 4-0 advantage and defeating the Rangers, 4-2.
Thomas Greiss made 40 saves, most of them directed at the crest on his sweater, to get the win.
Anders Lee, Josh Bailey,Brock Nelson, and Anthony Beauvillier all scored for the Islanders.
“I’m ecstatic with the two points,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “We’re exhausted. We had to battle through it. It was huge for our psyche. We’ve had so many games in a short period of time. We’re mentally and physically fatigued, and the break is going to do us good. If we would have lost that game in any way, shape or form, I think it would have been a big punch to the stomach.”
Pavel Buchnevich and Chris Kreider had power play goals for the Rangers who played without Artemi Panarin for the first time this season.
Panarin is nursing an upper body injury.
Mika Zibanejad assisted on both Rangers goals.
“It would have been a lot nicer to leave after a win tonight, but I think these nine days will do us good,” Zibanejad said. “We obviously have a whole lot of hockey left to play and the way we’re trending, we get this break here, come back, regroup and just go at it when we come back.”
This lineup has talent but the roster needs help and that means making some tough decision as to who stays and who goes. Otherwise it’s another season without the playoffs in Manhattan.
[WATCH: All Islanders vs. Rangers highlights]
Alexandar Georgiev made 14 saves in the loss.
“Obviously with [Panarin] in the lineup, our lineup looks a lot different,” Rangers head coach David Quinn said. “The other team has to pay more attention to him and he makes the two linemates he has [better]. Really in essence you lose three players, because the two guys he’s playing with aren’t as good as they would be with him there. It’s a blow.”
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