Recap: Rangers Sit Panarin, Lose to Islanders 5–2

In their first outing of a back-to-back with the New York Islanders, the New York Rangers paid their Long Island rivals a visit for their third meeting of the season. Heading into this one, the Rangers had yet to score a goal against the Islanders this season so while this became another loss, it was a step in the right direction considering they were finally able to score.

The big story line leading up to warm ups was the fact that Artemi Panarin would be a healthy scratch for roster management reasons and would remain out of the Rangers’ lineup leading up to the Olympic roster freeze. With Panarin out of the mix, Jonny Brodzinski would slot back into the lineup with Spencer Martin getting the start in net.

First Period

It was another slow start for the Rangers as they were held without a shot on goal through the first ten minutes of the opening period. Throughout which, there really wasn’t much action aside from Vincent Trocheck colliding with David Rittich, Matthew Schaefer clipping Brennan Othmann from behind, sending him hard into the boards, and Spencer Marin standing tall for the Rangers, playing the puck, and making some key saves in the meantime. 

With eight and a half to go in the period, the Rangers took the first penalty of the night as Alexis Lafrenière slashed and broke the stick of Mathew Barzal. The man advantage was short lived as Bo Horvat was called for interference just nine seconds into the power play. With 31 seconds to go on the 4-on-4, Vincent Trocheck was called for slashing Simon Holmstrom to give the Islanders a brief 4-on-3 advantage. 

With five minutes to go, the Islanders were back to a normal 5-on-4 power play and were moving the puck well. Newly acquired forward Ondrej Palat was alone in the slot as Holmstrom set him up for a one timer to make it a 1-0 game. 

Just 71 seconds later, Holmstrom was alone at the door step next to Martin and was fed a pass from the point he redirected perfectly into the wide open side of the net to extend the Islanders lead 2-0. 

With two and a half to go, the Rangers got their first chance on the power play as Jonathan Drouin was called for high sticking. After a pair of really good chances for Lafrenière in front of the net, a patient pass from J.T. Miller found Zibanejad open down low for a one timer that brought the Rangers within one, 2-1. 

That would do it for the period as the Rangers were significantly out-shot and out-played but only came out of it down by one. Shots were 14-6 after twenty minutes 

Second Period

The Rangers got off to a better start in the second and were controlling more of the play initially but it was a pretty uneventful opening ten minutes of the period. 

Nearing the midway point of the period, Sam Carrick was called for a tripping penalty as the fourth line was hemmed in their own end of the ice. On that same shift, Carrick would take another penalty as he delivered a cross check on Barzal. The shift came to an end with Matt Rempe delivering a hit from behind on Marc Gatcomb which earned him a minor penalty for boarding. That’s three penalties on one shift from the fourth line, giving the Islanders a full 5-on-3 advantage, with an additional two minutes of 5-on-4 time. 

The good news was that the Rangers were able to hold the Islanders off for the 5-on-3. However, with about 30 seconds to go on the 5-on-4, brilliant passing from the Islanders power play unit resulted in a wide open Barzel ripping a one timer from the bottom of the circle, extending their lead to 3-1. 

Not long after, a defensive zone lapse resulted in Jean-Gabriel Pageau converting on a bouncing puck in front of the Rangers net to make it 4-1. Less than two minutes later, the Rangers were able to answer as Taylor Raddysh jumped on a loose puck and took it right to the net, sneaking it through Rittich to make it a 4-2 game. 

In the final minute of the period, Adam Pelech found Emil Heineman open in the slot and capitalized on a quick one timer to make it 5-2. That was the second goal of the game in which an Islanders was left unattended all alone in the slot. Third where an Islanders was alone around the net. 

That did it for the second stanza as the Rangers were down by three and were being out-shot 28-13. They got off to a better start but couldn’t generate momentum as the Islanders continued to dominate offensively.

Third Period

Rinse, repeat as the Rangers were again, held spotless for the better half of the period. With about twelve and a half to go, Bo Horvat was called for tripping as he took Lafrenière down along the boards. This resulted in their first shot on goal of the period but not much else as the Islanders were able to fight off the man advantage.

The lone power play chance was the only relatively exciting part of this period. The Rangers would muster up a total of two shots on goal in the final period as they drop their third meeting of the season with the Islanders by a score of 5-2. They'll get an immediate chance at redemption as they'll host their rivals back at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night.