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New York Rangers-Islanders Part 1: A disheartening 4-3 loss on a last minute goal

By Steve Paulus

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 10: Kevin Shattenkirk #22 of the New York Rangers celebrates his second period goal against the New York Islanders during their game at Madison Square Garden on January 10, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 10: Kevin Shattenkirk #22 of the New York Rangers celebrates his second period goal against the New York Islanders during their game at Madison Square Garden on January 10, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 10: Anthony Beauvillier #18, Josh Bailey #12 and Johnny Boychuk #55 of the New York Islanders battle against Vladislav Namestnikov #90 and Ryan Strome #16 of the the New York Rangers as they fall on Robin Lehner #40 at Madison Square Garden on January 10, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 10: Anthony Beauvillier #18, Josh Bailey #12 and Johnny Boychuk #55 of the New York Islanders battle against Vladislav Namestnikov #90 and Ryan Strome #16 of the the New York Rangers as they fall on Robin Lehner #40 at Madison Square Garden on January 10, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Notes on the game

  • Five straight losses and they are 0 for 2019.
  • That’s two straight solid third periods. That’s a good trend.
  • They outshot the Islanders in the third period 17-1.  They ended up outshooting the Islanders for the game 30-20.
  • This was the first time the Rangers had a lead since the win over St. Louis six games ago. Never mind that they held that lead for all of 53 seconds.
  • The Rangers didn’t collapse under adversity like they did in Colorado and Arizona.
  • The Blueshirts are finally getting scoring from the rest of the lineup, except the top line has gone cold.
  • The Ranger penalty kill is having a lot of trouble. That’s eight goals allowed on the last 21 penalty kills.
  • The Rangers were killed on faceoffs, winning only 41% of the draws.   Mika Zibanejad had his third straight awful game winning eight of 24 draws (33%).   He was five of 18 against Vegas (28%)  and seven of 19 (37%) vs. Arizona. It especially hurt during the two man advantage in the third period. I know that Zibanejad is crucial to the power play, but Brett Howden won 56% of his draws.  Why not go to the five forward lineup and use Howden for the draws?
  • The Rangers had 37 hits, led by Jesper Fast with six.  The Islanders had 36, led by Matt Martin with eight.
  • Cody McLeod still has hands of stone, but in a game like this he was an asset.  He got into the Islanders’ heads and drove them crazy the entire game.
  • With the win the Islanders are back in a playoff spot, passing Montreal.  It means the Rangers are 11 points out of the wild card and 12 points out of third place in the Met Division.
  • After the game, Coach Quinn said he is giving the team tomorrow off with the Saturday game a matinee.
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