Rangers vs. Islanders: Rangers Respond With 5-0 Shutout Win Over Islanders
The New York Rangers flipped the script just 48 hours after an embarrassing effort, and defeated the New York Islanders by a final score of 5-0. Artemiy Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich each picked up a pair of goals, while Alexandar Georgiev pitched a shutout in his first appearance of the season.
1st Period
Pavel Buchnevich (1) - Mika Zibanejad (1) - 2:12
Unlike the previous game, the Rangers were ready to go right from the opening faceoff and got on the Islanders early. Following a shot attempt by Mathew Barzal, the puck flew out the neutral zone where Noah Dobson went back to retrieve. Mika Zibanejad was just as quick on the puck, fought off the check, and broke in on a 2-on-1 rush with Pavel Buchnevich. Zibanejad sold the shot enough to pull over the far side defender, and deferred to Buchnevich on the far side to make it an early 1-0 lead.
Artemiy Panarin (1) - Brendan Smith (1) - 13:46
A little over ten minutes after the opening tally, the Rangers were able to double up their lead courtesy of none other than Artemiy Panarin. Brendan Smith created the entire sequence with a great read in the defensive zone to breakup the cross-ice pass attempt. Almost immediately, Smith shoveled a puck into open ice where Panarin was waiting, and the Breadman walked in all alone on a breakaway. Ilya Sorokin didn’t stand much of a chance on the shot, and Panarin put New York up 2-0.
2nd Period
Pavel Buchnevich (2) - Unassisted - 5:57
As if the Rangers’ start wasn’t good enough, they followed it up with an even better second period. Pavel Buchnevich gave the Rangers a commanding 3-0 lead off of a great individual effort, and picked up his second tally of the evening. K’Andre Miller didn’t receive an assist on the goal, but he certainly played a large part by sacrificing his body to make a play in the defensive zone. Buchnevich capped off the play with an absolutely snipe from the left circle and beat Ilya Sorokin under the crossbar.
Kaapo Kakko (1) - Phil Di Giuseppe (1) & Filip Chytil (1) - 15:24
The trio of Kaapo Kakko, Phil Di Giuseppe and Filip Chytil started the game as the fourth line, and while that raised some eyebrows, they responded with a goal. The puck made its way to all three forwards on the rush, and eventually landed on Kaapo Kakko’s tape off to the right of the net. Kakko finished it off with a heavy one-timer from his knee and wired the puck past a sprawled out Sorokin to blow the doors off of this game.
3rd Period
Artemiy Panarin (2) - Adam Fox (1) & Pavel Buchnevich (1) PPG - 15:56
The Islanders frustration was evident late in the game, and Ross Johnston sent the Rangers on an extended power play after taking a double minor for roughing. New York’s power play continued to dominate puck possession in the offensive zone, and eventually found their fifth goal of the night. Artemiy Panarin picked up his second goal of the evening after receiving a slight tap pass from Adam Fox, and flipped the puck over Sorokin.
This game as a whole was a complete 180 turnaround from Thursday night, as the Rangers controlled the play right from the opening draw. Puck management was a big part of that as they went to work in the offensive zone, and kept the pressure on the Islanders for the full 60 minutes. Following the Rangers first win of the season, they will have the next two days off before returning to action on Tuesday night against the New Jersey Devils.
