New York Rangers overcome the New York Islanders in Stadium Series game at MetLife
By Conor Power
What a game that was. The New York Rangers would come all the way back late in the day to overcome the New York Islanders in overtime 6-5 at MetLife stadium. It was not a good performance from the guys in white, but it was enough to get the two points. In a whacky environment like this, that's all you can ask for. It's a win in the end and all that matters.
It would start well for the Rangers as a puck bounced to the point for Erik Gustafsson to walk onto. He ripped it home from the point through a screen in front despite it deflecting off the blocker of Ilya Sorokin. It was 1-0 Rangers and the guys in white were leading early. The follow-up scrap on debut by Matt Rempe with Matt Martin is quite the way to announce yourself in the NHL, and he made himself many fans early.
The Islanders wouldn't roll over, though. Brock Nelson was able to corral the puck on the high slot and a wobbling shot from the Islanders winger was able to fool Igor Shesterkin. I don't know if Igor didn't see it or what happened, but Shesterkin didn't react until the puck was past him, meaning this game was tied at one less than five minutes into the game. The battle of New York was providing more entertainment tonight.
The Islanders would take the lead before the halfway point of the first period. During a four-on-four, the Islanders would move up the ice at speed. Noah Dobson fed Bo Horvat, and Horvat entered the Rangers zone. On one foot, Horvat snapped the puck on the net, and Shesterkin was unable to stop it, allowing the Islanders to make it a lead for them in this one.
On the powerplay, the Islanders would make it 3-1. Mat Barzal would enter the zone at speed before giving the puck to Brock Nelson. Nelson gave it back to Barzal in the slot, who was able to tip it past Igor Shesterkin once again to make it a multiple-goal lead for the Isles. This forced Laviolette to call his timeout in an attempt to stop the bleeding in this one, as the Islanders jumped out to a 3-1 lead in this one.
The Islanders would continue to put the Rangers to the sword in the second period on the powerplay. A shot from the far left point would be deflected by the Islander captain Anders Lee and past Igor to make it a 4-1 lead for the Isles. The questions had to begin regarding the certainty of Igor in the Blueshirts net for the remainder of this game and there's no denying that the Rangers were struggling.
The Rangers got a power play and needed someone to give them life. The Islanders were running away with this one, so someone needed to give the team life. So, who do you call when the Rangers are desperate? Artemi Panarin was able to fire one on net that may have been tipped by Vincent Trocheck, but the screen of Chris Kreider took away the eyes of Ilya Sorokin and it was now a 4-2 game.
New York would grab another one before the end of the second period as they tried to comeback. A loose puck beside Ilya Sorokin was there with Alexis Lafreniere, Noah Dobson, and a few other Islanders in the area. Trocheck was able to chip it up over the Russian shot-stopper, and barely getting it to cross the goal line means the Rangers are one shot away from equality in a game they have been awful in.
Ryan Lindgren would suffer an injury on a play that would lead to the Islander's fifth goal. A high stick from Romanov would leave Lindgren in a heap in the corner. Romanov was then able to go to the net and pot home the puck after the shot from Dobson was deflected by Jonny Brodzinski. A break for the Isles because of Lindgren stricken in the corner, but the task for the Rangers just got a little tougher.
New York would get a burst of life with a little more than 4 minutes to go in the game. On a 4-on-3 powerplay, Laviolette hooked Shesterkin for the extra attacker. As the coincidental minorss which caused the initial 4-on-4 ended, a shot from the point was tipped home by Chris Kreider. This gave the Rangers a bit of life with precious little time remaining in this one.
With less than 90 seconds to go in the game, we'd see the Rangers powerplay save the bacon of the Blueshirts. Lafreniere found a beautiful pass into the middle of the ice that was fed over to Mika Zibanejad at the left side of the net who had a whole lot of net to aim at, and it was a 5-5 game. Twice, the Rangers scored with Shesterkin on the bench to get themselves back into this one. Despite not playing well, the Rangers had seemingly earned a point.
Ten seconds into overtime, the Rangers would enter the zone via Artemi Panarin off the back of an Islanders turnover. Sorokin fumbled his shot but he was able to flip the puck into where the net would be. The problem was Noah Dobson knocked the net off its mount. The puck trickled over the goal line where the net would have been, and since an Isles player knocked the goal off, it counts as a goal—rangers in 6-5 at MetLife in overtime.