Rangers 5 (EN), Islanders 2: Depleted Isles can’t convert on chances

With the injuries piling up, the Islanders’ game day roster had a few new faces with Samuel Bolduc and Grant Hutton up with the big club for the first time this season.

They played well at 5v5 despite the injuries, but special teams continued to be a problem – the Rangers scored short handed and on the power play, while the Isles couldn’t convert on multiple power play opportunities.

Ilya Sorokin was great all game, keeping the Islanders in it throughout the afternoon, but the Isles couldn’t make the most of their chances to reward him for a strong performance.

[Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick | HockeyViz]

First Period

The Islanders came out strong to start the game, with Anders Lee drawing a holding penalty on Jacob Trouba. On that ensuing power play, Noah Dobson gave the puck away on a terrible cross-ice pass, leading to a Chris Kreider shorthanded goal. The Rangers even had a second shorthanded chance, but that one was saved by Ilya Sorokin.

Kyle Palmieri took a stick to the face on a shot follow through, but after getting a ton of stitches he was back on the bench before the second period.

Second Period

Early in the second, Samuel Bolduc gave the puck away and Vincent Trocheck scored to make it 2-0 Rangers.

But just a few minutes later, Casey Cizikas scored his first goal of the season, picking up the loose puck from Pierre Engvall’s shot that Igor Shesterkin couldn’t get a handle on.

The Islanders were back on the power play shortly after, with Kreider headed to the box for hooking. Then, the Isles earned 30 seconds of 5 on 3 time when Adam Fox put the puck over the glass.

The Rangers killed that, and then cut the rest of their power play short when Anders Lee was called for interference. On the 4 on 4, Sorokin had to make a big save on Alex Lafreniere, and then Ryan Pulock took a hooking penalty, giving the Rangers a brief 5 on 3, which the Islanders killed. On the rest of their power play, Artemi Panarin made it 3-1 Rangers.

But, with just 8 seconds left in the period, Kyle Palmieri made a power move and set up Brock Nelson to make it 3-2.

Third Period

Nelson and Palmieri had a 2 on 1 but Nelson shot wide. Simon Holmstrom was called for holding, and the Islanders killed that penalty. When he got out of the box, Holmstrom and Horvat had a 2 on 1, but Horvat shot wide, missing a nearly open net.

Then, Adam Edstrom made it 4-2 Rangers on a deflected goal.

Fox was called for delay of game for the second time today, and despite a solid power play, the Isles couldn’t get anything past Shesterkin.

With 3 and half minutes left, the Isles pulled Sorokin, but Panarin put it into the empty net to make it 5-2.

The Islanders got a late power play after Filip Chytil slashed Scott Mayfield, but obviously it’s all too little too late as the Rangers picked up the win against a depleted Islanders team.

Up Next

Next, the New York Islanders head back to UBS Arena to take on the (mostly) struggling Pittsburgh Penguins, who are currently on a two-game win streak.