NEW YORK (NY) – For the second time in a row the two New York teams met, the Islanders defeated the Rangers 4-2 at the Barclays Center. Andrew Ladd finished with two goals and Thomas Griess made 25 saves for the win. Opposite net minder Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23 of 26 shots.
Rangers opened up the scoring off a 2-on-1 off the stick of defenseman Nick Holden. After killing off two penalties in the first 6:15 of the game, an outlet pass from Brady Skjei found Mats Zuccarello at the far blue line who was met up by Holden coming out fresh from the penalty box. Zuccarello passed to his right to Holden to slam home the first of the game.
The second period was back and forth on the ice, but won by the Islanders. Just 2:43 into the second period Anders Lee slammed home an almost completely empty net after some brilliant passing from Josh Bailey and John Tavares. 3:41 later Andrew Ladd was left all alone in front when Stephen Gionta turned Rangers defesenman Marc Staal inside out behind the net and stole the puck. He was able to coral the puck and feed a streaking Ladd who tapped home a one-timer above Lundqvist’s blocker.
The second period ended when Ryan McDonagh was high sticked by Bailey for a four-minute minor. The Rangers would start the third period with a power-play for 3:51.
The Islanders opened up the scoring.
A little over three minutes into the third, an Islander Nikolay Kulemin was again left all alone in front after heavy persistence from Tavares on Lundqvist, who eventually found his linemate in front.
43 seconds later the Rangers ended their power-play with a goal from the hot stick of Jimmy Vesey, who scored his fifth power-play goal of the year and 14th overall.
After a barrage of shots from the Rangers, Ladd was able to score an empty net goal with 1:10 left in the game for the final of 4-2.
The Islanders now lead the series against their rivals 2-1. Their next and last game against one another is March 22nd at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers have two days off before hosting the Washington Capitals on sunday at noon on NBC.
The Islanders have themselves a home-and-home this weekend against the Devils, with the first game in New Jersey Saturday night at 7.
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