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Rangers vs. Islanders: Rangers Rebound With Hard Fought Win Over Islanders

After a lackluster effort just 24 hours ago, the New York Rangers responded this evening with a massive 4-1 win over the division-leading New York Islanders. Right from the opening faceoff, the Rangers were threatening in the offensive zone and on the defensive side of the puck, they were positionally sound. Alexandar Georgiev got the nod in goal tonight after an extended absence in the crease, and played as well as you could have asked him to.

1st Period

No scoring.

2nd Period

Alexis Lafrenière (7) - Kaapo Kakko (5) & Filip Chytil (7) - 6:05

Following a scoreless opening frame, the Rangers were able to continue their strong play in the offensive zone, and opened the scoring at the 6:05 mark. The Kid Line had several scoring chances throughout the first half of the game, and they finally got on the board to give New York a 1-0 lead. The chip shot by FIlip Chytil gave Semyon Varlamov some trouble and the rebound kicked out into the high slot. After numerous shot attempts, Alexis Lafrenière fought off a check and finally slammed home the rebound off to the left of the net.

Colin Blackwell (12) - Artemiy Panarin (29) & Ryan Strome (25) - 10:01

About four minutes later, the Rangers added onto their lead with more hard work at the top of the crease and Colin Blackwell scored his 12th of the season. All the movement below the goal line by the Rangers crossed up the Islanders’ coverage, and the puck eventually made its way down to Artemiy Panarin. The Breadman immediately fed a pass back into the high slot where Colin Blackwell was waiting, and he chipped the puck under the crossbar to make it a 2-0 game.

Jordan Eberle (15) - Andy Greene (4) & Mathew Barzal (22) - 14:53

Despite the Rangers playing a relatively clean period in their defensive zone, the Islanders jumped back into the game off of a double deflection. The Islanders were able to work the puck around the perimeter before Andy Greene wired a slap shot from just inside the blue line. The shot wound up deflecting off of Vitali Kravtsov’s stick as well as Jordan Eberle’s before sailing over the shoulder of Alexandar Georgiev.

3rd Period

K’Andre Miller (4) - Jacob Trouba (10) & Artemiy Panarin (3) - 11:48

With the Rangers needing just 20 minutes to close out a win, they added an insurance marker just past the halfway mark courtesy of K’Andre Miller. Just prior to the goal, the Rangers put together an extended shift in the offensive zone and wore down the Islanders on the cycle. Kaapo Kakko doesn’t pick up an assist on the goal, but his heavy lifting below the goal line makes it all happen. K’Andre Miller finished off the shift with an absolute bomb of a slap shot and beat Semyon Varlamov through the legs to extend the lead to 3-1.

Mika Zibanejad (14) - Unasssisted ENG - 18:48

The Rangers did an excellent job of keeping the Islanders to the outside during the final two minutes of play, and blocked off the shooting lanes. After several key defensive plays, Mika Zibanejad lofted the puck over everyone from his own blue line, and the puck wobbled into the empty net to ice the game.

Defensively, the Rangers put forth one of their better games and shut down the Islanders throughout a majority of the game. The Kid Line was outstanding tonight as they kept the opposition pinned in their own zone on numerous occasions, and even came away with a goal. Vitali Kravtsov also had his best game thus far and provided the fourth line with some much needed offense. It was a solid effort all around and the Rangers will do it all again on Sunday evening as they close out the two-game set against the Islanders.

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