Recap: Rangers Conclude Preseason With 6-1 Drubbing of Islanders

It was final dress rehearsal night for the New York Rangers as they took a trip to Long Island, taking on the New York Islanders for the preseason finale. While the Islanders were without many of their regulars, the Rangers iced what is expected to be their opening night roster.

First Period

It was all Rangers from the start as it wasn't long before they were ahead on the scoreboard. On a net front scramble, Oliver Bjorkstrand found the loose puck, cashing in off a warp around attempt by Pavel Dorofeyev to make it a 1-0 game early.

Just under a minute later, Mitchell Chaffee was called for holding. With the Rangers on the power play, Mika Zibanejad found J.T. Miller down low, allowing him to pick a corner over Varlmaov to extend their lead to 2-0.

The Rangers penalty killers went to work for the first time midway through the first as Pavel Dorofeyev was sent off for tripping. After a successful kill, they were tested again as Noah Laba was sent off for slashing. The Rangers penalty killers took care of business to help the team maintain their 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Shots were 10-5 Rangers after a pretty dominant opening period. 

Second Period

The Rangers picked up right where they left off as it only took them three and a half minutes to add to their lead. A strong shift from the fourth line resulted in a fantastic shot from Tye Kartye that found the back of the net with some help from Matt Rempe acting as the net front presence. Rempe and Fox picked up assists as Kartye's goal made it a 3-0 game early in the second

With just under seven minutes to go in the second, Vladislav Gavrikov let a shot go from the point that took a redirect off the stick of Gabe Perreault in the slot to find the back of the net. A beautiful deflection from Perreault for his first of the preseason to make it a 4-0 game.

About two minutes later, Braden Schneider laid a hit on Matthew Highmore which resulted in Matthew Kessel going after him. The two dropped the gloves and had a quick scrap which was enough to send them to the box but not enough to be considered a fighting major. Instead, they were given double minors for roughing.

With three minutes to go, Noah Laba led a 2-on-1 and while Varlamov made the save on the shot, Will Cuylle was right there to guide the rebound home, 5-0 Rangers.

Fully in the drivers seat, the Rangers took a 5-0 lead into the second intermission, out-shooting the Islanders 21-10 after forty minutes.

Third Period

Not even thirty seconds into the third, Alexis Lafrenière ended up on a partial breakaway off an offensive zone face-off win and drew another Islanders penalty. It wasn't long before the puck was in the back of the net again. A beautiful passing play between Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox set Zibanejad up at the doorstep to have a wide open net to send the puck home, 6-0 Rangers. Fox's third assist of the evening.

It wasn't long before the Rangers were back to the power play as Kartye was tripped by Kessel down low. The Rangers used this as an opportunity to get their second power play unit a rep but the Islanders penalty killers were able to hold them off.

With eight and a half to go, the Islanders finally got on the board. A neautral zone giveaway sent the Islanders the other way and a shot from Pierre Engvall snuck through Igor Shesterkin to spoil his shutout, 6-1. The Islanders showed a little life from there but it was far too late for it to amount to anything substantial.

That would do it for this one as the Rangers remained dominant through sixty minutes and capped off their preseason with a 6-1 win on the road. Final shots on goal were 27-15 in the Rangers favor. They'll have the weekend off as the front office will mull over final roster decisions and prepare for game 1 of 84 Tuesday night in Boston.