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Recap: Islanders Ride Wave Past Rangers 4-3

Tonight was supposed to be about celebration, it being the Breadman’s 200th game in royal blue and all, but the team couldn’t pull it off in the end. In a match where the Rangers controlled much of the play, they fell to their New York rival with the Islanders’ third-period surge. This was a disappointing game as the Blueshirts seemed to come out looking sharper and faster but still yielded a similar result to recent games.

1st Period

Kyle Palmieri (5)- Zach Parise (2) & Ryan Pulock (5)- PPG 6:04

With Jimmy Vesey going off for tripping the Islanders wasted no time capitalizing. The Islanders were cycling the puck at the point with Ryan Pulock winding up for a one-timer. Shesterkin got in front of it, but Palmieri got to the rebound first putting it through a sprawling Shesterkin.

Filip Chytil (3)- K’Andre Miller (4) & Adam Fox (9)- 11:36

The Rangers were cooking and had multiple high-slot attempts saved by Varlamov. Fox made a nice play to keep the puck in the zone and slid the puck over to Miller. He walked in closer and made a sneaky pass to Chytil who whipped the puck immediately toward the net for the Ranger’s first goal of the game.

2nd Period

Chris Kreider (5)- Artemi Panarin (13) & Vincent Trocheck (6)- PPG :22

The Rangers took the lead for the first time tonight as they started the second period on the power-play. They gathered the puck in the defensive zone and Panarin received a pass from Trocheck as he skated across the offensive blue line. Flying down the wing he sent a cross-ice pass to a streaking Kreider who did what he does best and scored a power-play goal.

Vincent Trocheck (5)- Artemi Panarin (14) & Mika Zibanejad (9)- 13:47

Shortly before the Rangers took the only multi-goal lead of the night, they thought they had scored. Despite celebrations from Panarin as well as the crowd, after a lengthy review process but it was determined the puck never fully crossed the line. You be the judge.

Disappointed but still determined the team went right back to work as they controlled play in the offensive zone. Panarin wound up and put a howitzer right on net, but Varlamov had a clear view of it and snagged it in his glove. Mayfield unintentionally knocked it loose and Trocheck down on one knee got the leverage he needed to send a backhand up into the top of the net over the goalie’s glove.

3rd Period

Unfortunately for the Rangers, the Islanders dominated the scoresheet in the third period. Taking them only 14 seconds to cut the lead to one as Adam Pelech sent a shot past Shesterkin. A little later in the third Brock Nelson sent a one-timer of his own into the net tying the game with the Islanders’ second power-play goal.

A few minutes later Kaapo Kakko had possession of the puck on the right wall. As he began to move with the puck he was tripped up directly in front of the referee. Wahlstrom got his stick in the skates of Kakko and Kakko went down both the Islanders and Rangers looked to the referee less than 10 feet away who elected to not make a call. The Islanders got the puck to Anders Lee right in front of the net who dragged it around a sprawling Shesterkin.

While we try to maintain objectivity, this was an incredibly clear call that the referee for whatever reason did not make. In classic tragic Rangers fashion this ended up being the difference between the two teams and for the second night in a row, the New York Islanders erased a two-goal deficit and won the game in the third period.

The Rangers play again on Thursday as they travel to Michigan to take on the Detroit Red Wings. We saw a variation of lines in tonight’s game and it’ll be interesting to see what Gallant does in response to his team losing the game with their opponent scoring three straight goals in the third period. While their effort was better tonight, it was sadly still not enough.

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