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Previewing the Rangers-Islanders season opener

By Steve Paulus |
The New York Rangers home opener on October 15, 2010 (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
The New York Rangers home opener on October 15, 2010 (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
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The 2021 season kicks off for the New York Rangers with a classic matchup with a bitter rival

We’ve been waiting a long time for this.  Too long.  Thankfully, the NHL schedule-makers gave us a gift with a home opener against the Islanders.  After that it just doesn’t let up with another Islander game followed by the Devils and Pittsburgh.  The new East Division is the reason and we have get used to it, there will be no easy games on this schedule.

The last time the Rangers played in the friendly confines of Madison Square Garden was on March 7 in a 6-4 loss to the Devils.  There won’t be any fans, but we can hope for frequent renditions of the Rangers’ goal song.

Perhaps the best news is the NHL released a list of players who are sidelined by COVID-19 and of the 22 players, only prospect Justin Richards is with the Blueshirts. That list does not include the Dallas Stars who reported 17 players had tested positive.  There are no reported cases on the Islanders.  Mika Zibanejad will play.


It should be a typical Ranger-Islander game with the emotion of a longtime rivalry.  There’s no doubt that play will be sloppy due to the lack of practice, but both teams are close to the same squads that played last year.  The Islanders made fewer changes than the Rangers so the Blueshirts could need more adjusting as the game goes on.

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About the Rangers

The Rangers lineup is set based on what the team used in their last scrimmage.  Mika Zibanejad is healthy and ready to play after a bout with COVID and will be centering Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich.  Kaapo Kakko will be replacing Jesper Fast on the line with Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin.   Filip Chytil will be centering Alexis Lafrenière and Julien Gauthier.  The fourth line will consist of Brett Howden between Kevin Rooney and Brendan Lemieux.

On defense, all eyes will be on K’Andre Miller as he makes his NHL debut on the left side of Jacob Trouba.  The duo of Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren are together while the third pair will be Tony DeAngelo and Jack Johnson.

Igor Shesterkin gets the nod in goal, his first start against the Islanders as Alexandar Georgiev was in net for all four games last season.

About the Islanders

The Islanders are much the same team that the Rangers faced four times last season.   Gone are Devon Toews, Johnny Boychuk, Derick Brassard, Thomas Greiss and Tom Kuhnhackl.   There are no new faces except goalie Ilya Sorokin, though it will be Semyon Varlamov in goal in the opener.  Michael Dal Colle is on injured reserve.    Expect to see more of Noah Dobson and Oliver Wahlstrom this season.

Varlamov has a 6-5-2 record against the Rangers, mostly with Colorado.  He lost all three of his starts against the Blueshirts last season.

The Rangers have to watch out for three players.  Matthew Barzal has four goals and 18 points in 12 games against the Blueshirts.  Anthony Beauvillier has nine goals and 15 points in 14 games. Josh Bailey has eight points in his last eight games against the Rangers.

Barry Trotz is starting his third season as the Islanders head coach.

The Islanders have lost two of their last three road season openers.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 25: Brock Nelson #29 of the New York Islanders is tripped up by Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers during the first period at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on February 25, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 25: Brock Nelson #29 of the New York Islanders is tripped up by Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers during the first period at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on February 25, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Head to head

Last season the Rangers had a 3-1 record in four games against the Islanders.  By a scheduling quirk, they played the Isles three times in eight days last January, winning twice.  The won their last match up of the season in February.

Game 1, January 13:  Rangers 6, Islanders 2

This was the Artemi Panarin show at the Garden as he tied his career high with five points on two goals and three assists.  In this game, Panarin tied Andy Bathgate’s franchise record of four straight home games with three or more points, set in 1961.

Adam Fox had a goal and an assist while Alexandar Georgiev had 32 saves. This was his fourth career start against the Isles and his third win. There were two fights in the game in the second period with Micheal Haley taking on Ross Johnston and Brendan Smith fighting Matt Martin.

Game 2, January 16: Rangers 3, Islanders 2

A last minute goal and a stellar performance by Georgiev gave the Rangers their second straight in against the Islanders, this time at the Nassau Coliseum.  Josh Bailey gave the Isles the lead with a last minute goal in the first period.   Mika Zibanejad tied it in the second period.

A Tony DeAngelo goal gave the Blueshirts the lead, but Anthony Beauvillier tied it at the 12:40 mark.  When Derick Brassard was called for cross checking Jesper Fast, the Rangers went to work and Chris Kreider scored on the power play with just 25 seconds left in the game.

Georgiev made 38 saves and kept the Rangers in the game in the first period when the Islanders outshot the Blueshirts 22-6.

Game 3, January 21: Islanders 4, Rangers 2

The Islanders salvaged some self respect with a 4-2 win at Madison Square Garden and the Rangers got a taste of life without Panarin as their superstar missed his only game of the season, out with an upper body injury.

In their last game before the All-Star break, the Islanders jumped to a 4-0 lead.  Two late goals in the third period made the score closer than it was.  Leading the Isles was Josh Bailey with one goal and two assists.  Thomas Greiss stopped 40 Ranger shots as the Isles were outshot 42-18.  The Islanders were two for two on the power play and outhit the Rangers 25-16.

It was a weird game with a Ryan Strome goal disallowed on an offsides ruling. Under the new rule this season it would have counted.  The Rangers pulled Georgiev with five minutes left and were able to score twice and the game ended with Tony DeAngelo stopping two goals from being scored into the empty net.

Game 4, February 25: Rangers 4, Islanders 3 (Overtime)

This was the first game after the trade deadline so it was Chris Kreider’s first game after signing the big contract and it was J.G. Pageau’s debut with the Fishsticks. It was a classic Rangers-Islanders game with the Islanders tying the game in the last minute and Mika Zibanejad winning the game 28 seconds into the overtime.

Pageau scored in his debut, but also sat out most of the third period after tangling with Jacob Trouba after the Ranger defenseman took Michael Dal Colle out with an open ice hit. Pageau took an instigator penalty along with a fighting major and a 10 minute misconduct.

For the second straight game a goal was disallowed as an Anders Lee tying goal was waved off for goalie interference.  Barry Trotz challenged the call but lost.

The win was the Rangers’ eighth straight on the road, setting a new franchise record.

Top scorers:

Rangers goals: Panarin, Kreider 3
Rangers points: Panarin 7, Zibanejad 5
Islanders goals:  Brock Nelson 3
Islanders points: Nelson, Bailey 5

TORONTO, ONTARIO – JULY 29: Brendan Lemieux #48 of the New York Rangers and Johnny Boychuk #55 of the New York Islanders scuffle in the first period during an exhibition game prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on July 29, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO – JULY 29: Brendan Lemieux #48 of the New York Rangers and Johnny Boychuk #55 of the New York Islanders scuffle in the first period during an exhibition game prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on July 29, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /

Stuff you should know

Mika Zibanejad is riding a six game point scoring streak with 11 goals and two assists.

Pavel Buchnevich had a seven game point scoring streak when play was halted.  He had two goals and seven assists in those seven games.

The last time the Rangers opened the season against the Isles at the Garden was in 2016, a 5-3 win.

The Rangers have won only three of their last 10 home openers, though they did win last season against Winnipeg, 6-4.

If Alexis Lafrenière can score a goal, he will join a select group of first overall picks who scored in their first game.  Here’s the list:

  • Auston Matthews – 2016  (4 goals)
  • Alex Ovechkin – 2005 (2 goals)
  • Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 2011
  • John Tavares – 2009
  • Rick Nash – 2002
  • Eric Lindros – 1992
  • Mats Sundin – 1990
  • Mario Lemieux – 1984
  • Mel Bridgman – 1975
  • Billy Harris – 1972
  • Gilbert Perreault – 1970

Two Rangers will be making their NHL debuts tonight in Lafrenière  and K’Andre Miller.  Last season it was two in Kakko and Fox.

This will be the fourth straight year that a teenager will be in the Rangers starting lineup on opening night.

The Islanders have nine players age 30 or older. The Rangers have two and if Brendan Smith is scratched, there will be only one (Jack Johnson).

Here are a few key things to watch.  What is the chemistry is for the  Chytil-Lafrenière-Gauthier line?   How does Kakko mesh with Panarin and Strome?  Will the Miller-Trouba pairing work out?  Is Jack Johnson as bad as his reviews or was he unfairly criticized?

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – JANUARY 16: Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers scores the game winning goal on the power-play at 19:35 of the third period against the New York Islanders at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on January 16, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. The Rangers defeated the Islanders 3-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – JANUARY 16: Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers scores the game winning goal on the power-play at 19:35 of the third period against the New York Islanders at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on January 16, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. The Rangers defeated the Islanders 3-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Three keys to winning

  1. Don’t get emotional – After waiting months to play, both teams will be eager to get out of the box quickly.  The Rangers won’t have a home crowd to inspire them, but more importantly they have to maintain their composure and wait for opportunities.  An interesting question will be how long it will take before David Quinn mixes up his lines.
  2. Stop the three B’s – Barzal, Beauvillier and Bailey have absolutely killed the Rangers the last few years.  The Rangers need to shut them down as much as the Isles need to stop Panarin and Zibanejad.
  3. Work the power play – The Rangers power play should be as good this season as it was last year.  The Rangers were able to get under the Islanders’ skin in their games last season with Ross Johnston, Brock Nelson, J.G. Pageau and Matt Martin all losing it on different occasions.   Brendan Lemieux  needs to work his magic and get the Isles to take ill advised penalties, a strategy that could work to the Rangers advantage throughout this season.

Game info

Starting time for the game is 7pm and will be televised on the MSG Network with the pregame show on at 6:30pm.  The radiocast will be on ESPN 98.7 FM.

Join the live conversation on Blue Line Station during the game.  The live thread should be up about an hour before puck drop!

The two teams have a rematch on Saturday night at 7pm.

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