In New York, the Rangers capped off a five-game week long swing through the schedule with a 5-2 win over the visiting Islanders on Sunday afternoon.
Less than 24 hours after dispatching the Penguins, 7-4, in Pittsburgh, the Rangers did the same to the Islanders, 5-2.
In the middle frame, the Rangers’ Jonny Brodzinski snapped a 2-2 tie for a 3-2 lead headed to the third period.
“I think it was a relentless [effort],” Brodzinski said. “We didn’t give them much. There were a few times in the third period there where we had a couple of small breakdowns, but overall, I think it was really a good game for us.”
Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves for the win.
The Rangers improved to 45-19-4, going 4-1-0 in the five-game stretch.
“You saw in that first period, that was a great start by us,” the Rangers’ Vincent Trocheck said. “I thought the second period was really good. Just staying consistent. You saw it all the way up and down our lineup today. Nobody took the game off.”
K’Andre Miller added two assists to the scoresheet in the win.
Bo Horvat hit a shorthanded strike in the opening stanza to give the Isles a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
In the middle frame, the Rangers tied the game, 1-1, on a goal from Mike Zibanejad who was set up the high slot, he one timed a p[ass from Jack Roslovic on the left boards.
Will Cuylle then ripped a laser to the right side of the Isles cage for a 2-1 lead midway through the second, he was sprung off a pass from Ryan Lindgren.
“I liked our compete. The score didn’t go our way in the first period, [but] we came out right away in the second period,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “Under the circumstances of the situation, for the New York Islanders as well, I thought it was really gutsy.”
Horvat collected his double to tie the game, 2-2, at 13:55.
“He was lethal tonight. When he had a chance, you thought it was going in,” Islanders forward Mathew Barzal said of Horvat. “I thought he played a really solid game. I wish my line, some other lines, could have given him some help.”
For the Islanders, that was the end of the offense for them on the day.
“It was a good breakout by us,” Brodzinski said. “Kicked it to the middle, (Alexander) Wennberg made a good drive wide and I just stopped at the net. “[Their] defenseman just fell in the corner. Wide-open in the slot, Miller just fired it into me, and just a small deflection.”
The Islanders dropped to 29-23-15 off their fourth straight loss.
“I’ll say this: I saw a team that played better than us today,” coach Patrick Roy said. “They managed the puck much better than what we did. They’re very fast in transition. I thought they had more energy than us, for some reason.”
In the third period, the Rangers padded the lead with welcome scoring from their youngsters, Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere.
Kakko scored his 10th of the season midway through the third period to make the score 4-2 to the Rangers. Kakko won a tight scrum along the left board and then drifted to the slot for a wrister on the goal at 2:36 of the third.
Lafreniere hit off a one timer of a pass from Artemi Panarin midway through third for the 5-2 final count on the scoreboard.
The Rangers finished their back-to-back sets for the season, going 11-1-0.Â
Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves in the loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.