Isles beat Rangers 2-0 and this one hurt

Notes on the game

• The lack of urgency on the six on four while they were down by  two goals was disturbing. The coach had called a timeout, but apparently he forgot to remind them about the score and how much time remained.
• Similarly, with 1:26 left in the game, Chris Kreider skated the puck out of the Rangers zone and dumped it into the Islanders zone and went for a change. It was a careless play and he gave up possession when they absolutely had to mount an offense.
• Can David Quinn use his timeouts better?  Should he have stopped play after the Islanders scored so that they could regroup. It might have prevented the second goal.  He saved the timeout and used it with only 54 seconds left and down two goals.
• How bad is the power play?  The Rangers were able to muster only five scoring chances on three power plays with only two as high danger scoring chances.
• The Rangers worked extensively  on faceoffs and it paid off.  They won 27 of 44 faces or 61.4%.    They won 24 of 36 draws over the last two periods.
• Phil Di Giuseppe led the team with six shots on goal in 13:28 minutes of ice time on the third line.  He is the one Ranger forward who plays a dump and chase game and also is willing to shoot.
• Adam Fox played 24:59 to lead all Rangers.  No Ranger forward played more than 20 minutes, a rarity as Quinn rolled four lines. That’s the first time that has happened this season.  Last year there was only six games when no forward played 20 minutes.
• Igor Shesterkin stopped 28 of 30 shots for a .933 save percentage.  The loss evened his record 3-3-1.
• This was only the second time that the Rangers have gone into the third period tied and the first time that they have lost.
• The Islanders improved to 5-1 when scoring first, the hallmark of a good defensive team.  The Rangers are 1-3-2 when the opposition scores first.
• Scoring streaks Panarin, Kevin Rooney and Ryan Strome were ended by the shutout.
• What a difference a year makes. Semyon Varlamov has six shutout periods against the  Rangers this season.  Last year he allowed 17 goals in four games against the Blueshirts.
• Varlamov has done something that Billy Smith, Chico Resch and numerous other Islander goalies were unable to accomplish…shut out the Rangers twice in one season.  And consider that he may get five more chances against them.
• This was tough loss in the standings.  By winning, the Islanders moved into fourth place and a playoff spot  By losing, the Rangers dropped from a tie for fifth into last place in the East.