Rangers lose 3-2 in overtime, was that good or bad?

Notes on the game

Both Rangers goals were scored by their third pair defensemen, Libor Hajek and Brendan Smith.  That’ s the first time that has happened all season.

Kaapo Kakko and Alexi Lafreniere are showing why they were top picks in the draft and Fiilip Chytil is improving.

Kakko has two goals and six points in his last seven games. In his last eight games,  Lafreniere  has scored four goals. Chytil has two goals and four assists in his last seven games.

Vitali Kravtsov is playing like a seasoned pro.  He doesn’t hesitate to shoot and he drives to the net.  He was fifth among forwards in event strength ice time, playing 13:35 minutes. While he is still penciled into the fourth line, the Rangers are going to have to try to find a bigger role for him in the lineup.

The Rangers gave up a goal with only 7.6 seconds left in the first period when all three Rangers went off for a change after  54 second shift. The Islanders took advantage of the change and turned it into an odd man rush that resulted in a J.G. Pageau goal.   It was a grievous error by the top line as they  could have dumped the puck in the Islanders zone and changed.  With fresh legs on the ice, they wouldn’t have been victimized by the late goal. Instead, all three Rangers tried a rush that left two of them caught up ice.  It was a bad error by Zibanejad, Kreider and Buchnevich.

This was the 11th time the Rangers have given up a goal in the last two minutes of a period.  They’ve won only four of those 11 games.  The Rangers have scored seven times in the last two minutes of a period and they have won six of those games.

The Islanders dominated in all offensive categories from shots (32-26) to faceoffs (31-22) to hits (27-21).   That was based on a strong first period with the Rangers dominating the last two periods.  The Islanders had 23 shot attempts to the Rangers 14 in the first period at even strength. The rest of the game the Rangers had 45 shot attempts to the Islanders’ 26.

For two games in a row the Islanders got goals from defensemen who had not scored yet this season. It was Andy Greene on Friday and Ryan Pulock in this game.

After only one penalty was assessed on Friday, each team had three power plays with the Islanders scoring the only goal.

After a one game break, Adam Fox was back at the top of the list for ice time among all skaters playing 25:44.

Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 of 32 shots in losing in overtime for the first time.  Arguably, he was outplayed by his KHL rival, Ilya Sorokin. Inevitably there will some second guessing Quinn’s use of Shestorkin instead of Alexandar Georgiev who has outstanding career stats against the Islanders.

With the trade deadline on Monday at 3pm, Brendan Smith was asked about the possibility of a trade. He responded” I want to be here. I want to help this team win. I love being a Ranger so if we keep getting these points keeps me around, I love being a part of this team…I want to help these younger guys get to the next level.”    Although he is a UFA next season, if he is willing to take a big pay cut, it is not out of the question that the Rangers could re-sign him as a depth defenseman.