Rangers Fall To The Islanders 6-4
Sunday afternoon at Madison
Square Garden the Rangers spotted the Islanders an early 3-0 lead, but
rallied back to forge a third-period tie behind a tour-de-force
performance from Eric Staal. However two late goals by the Islanders
handed the Blueshirts a 6-4 loss.
Derick Brassard's power play goal with 7:21 remaining in regulation had tied the game, 4-4, and put the Rangers on even terms for the first time since the game was fewer than three minutes old. Keith Yandle fed the puck to Brassard in the right circle and he blasted a slap shot through Staal's screen, his team-leading 23rd goal pulling the Rangers even.
However, after the Rangers had iced the puck, Brassard lost a face off cleanly and Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck ripped a left wing shot past Antti Raanta to make the score 5-4. Frans Nielsen added an empty net goal at 18:59.
The fans at The Garden were treated to one of the wildest and most entertaining periods of hockey played by the Rangers in quite some time as the two teams combined for seven goals during the first period, one in which the Islanders were able to carry a 4-3 lead into the intermission.
It is likely that neither head coach was as thrilled with the opening twenty minutes as the fans. The Islanders raced out to a 3-0 lead before five minutes of hockey had been played, and the Rangers did not record a shot on goal until half of the period had been played. However the Rangers then proceeded to score three of the next four goals as they outshot the Islanders 10-4 over the final ten minutes of the first period.
One could sense that the Rangers were not on top of their game right away as Antti Raanta was forced to make a clutch save to deny Josh Bailey off a 2 on 1 rush just 17 seconds into the game. Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk followed by opening the scoring at 2:50 and 45 seconds later Brock Nelson put the Rangers in a 2-0 hole by burying the rebound of a John Tavares shot. Kyle Okposo deflected a Nick Leddy power play shot past Raanta at 4:45 and the stunned Blueshirts were down 3-0.
The Rangers did not record their first shot of the game until the 10:11 mark of the opening period when Staal's wrister from the left-wing wall was stopped by Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak. At that point the Blueshirts were being outshot 10-1.
Oscar Lindberg, though, scored on the Rangers third shot of the night, at 11:16 of the first. Staal zipped a pass towards the blue paint and Lindberg followed by sneaking a backhand shot past Halak for his 12th goal of the season, and first in 23 games. Staal's assist was his first point as a Ranger.
Thirty-eight seconds later Tanner Glass was left wide open to bury his third goal after Dominic Moore had hammered a pass off the back boards to Glass by the left post.
Back in the game and only trailing by one after their disastrous start, the Rangers surrendered Boychuk's second goal of the period at 13:14 as the defenseman's long shot from the right point somehow found its way under Raanta's pads.
Staal answered immediately for the Rangers 31 seconds later, scoring off his own rebound at 13:45 to bring the Rangers back to within a goal, 4-3. That goal capped a terrific first period for Staal, who recorded his first goal and assist as a Ranger, led the team with three shots on goal, and won all five of his face offs. He was also leveled with a hard, clean check along the boards by the Islanders' Matt Martin with three minutes remaining and was slow to the bench, though he never missed a shift the rest of the way.
Dan Boyle picked up an assist on Staal's goal as he registered the 600th point of his NHL career.
After all of the first-period fireworks, the Rangers and Islanders played a scoreless second period with the Blueshirts holding a 10-7 shots advantage. Despite that fact, it was Raanta who was forced to make the more difficult saves in the middle twenty, including a huge one-two on Frans Nielsen's shorthanded break with 5:18 to play in the period.
The Rangers, who were playing without Marc Staal on Sunday as the veteran defenseman sat out with back spasms, also lost defenseman Dylan McIlrath to a leg injury in the first period. While carrying the puck by the Rangers bench, McIlrath was drilled by a Cal Clutterbuck check and remained down the ice before slowly skating directly to the dressing room. McIlrath tested his hurt leg out before the start of period number two, but after a quick twirl he retired again to the locker room and did not reemerge.
Derick Brassard's power play goal with 7:21 remaining in regulation had tied the game, 4-4, and put the Rangers on even terms for the first time since the game was fewer than three minutes old. Keith Yandle fed the puck to Brassard in the right circle and he blasted a slap shot through Staal's screen, his team-leading 23rd goal pulling the Rangers even.
However, after the Rangers had iced the puck, Brassard lost a face off cleanly and Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck ripped a left wing shot past Antti Raanta to make the score 5-4. Frans Nielsen added an empty net goal at 18:59.
The fans at The Garden were treated to one of the wildest and most entertaining periods of hockey played by the Rangers in quite some time as the two teams combined for seven goals during the first period, one in which the Islanders were able to carry a 4-3 lead into the intermission.
It is likely that neither head coach was as thrilled with the opening twenty minutes as the fans. The Islanders raced out to a 3-0 lead before five minutes of hockey had been played, and the Rangers did not record a shot on goal until half of the period had been played. However the Rangers then proceeded to score three of the next four goals as they outshot the Islanders 10-4 over the final ten minutes of the first period.
One could sense that the Rangers were not on top of their game right away as Antti Raanta was forced to make a clutch save to deny Josh Bailey off a 2 on 1 rush just 17 seconds into the game. Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk followed by opening the scoring at 2:50 and 45 seconds later Brock Nelson put the Rangers in a 2-0 hole by burying the rebound of a John Tavares shot. Kyle Okposo deflected a Nick Leddy power play shot past Raanta at 4:45 and the stunned Blueshirts were down 3-0.
The Rangers did not record their first shot of the game until the 10:11 mark of the opening period when Staal's wrister from the left-wing wall was stopped by Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak. At that point the Blueshirts were being outshot 10-1.
Oscar Lindberg, though, scored on the Rangers third shot of the night, at 11:16 of the first. Staal zipped a pass towards the blue paint and Lindberg followed by sneaking a backhand shot past Halak for his 12th goal of the season, and first in 23 games. Staal's assist was his first point as a Ranger.
Thirty-eight seconds later Tanner Glass was left wide open to bury his third goal after Dominic Moore had hammered a pass off the back boards to Glass by the left post.
Back in the game and only trailing by one after their disastrous start, the Rangers surrendered Boychuk's second goal of the period at 13:14 as the defenseman's long shot from the right point somehow found its way under Raanta's pads.
Staal answered immediately for the Rangers 31 seconds later, scoring off his own rebound at 13:45 to bring the Rangers back to within a goal, 4-3. That goal capped a terrific first period for Staal, who recorded his first goal and assist as a Ranger, led the team with three shots on goal, and won all five of his face offs. He was also leveled with a hard, clean check along the boards by the Islanders' Matt Martin with three minutes remaining and was slow to the bench, though he never missed a shift the rest of the way.
Dan Boyle picked up an assist on Staal's goal as he registered the 600th point of his NHL career.
After all of the first-period fireworks, the Rangers and Islanders played a scoreless second period with the Blueshirts holding a 10-7 shots advantage. Despite that fact, it was Raanta who was forced to make the more difficult saves in the middle twenty, including a huge one-two on Frans Nielsen's shorthanded break with 5:18 to play in the period.
The Rangers, who were playing without Marc Staal on Sunday as the veteran defenseman sat out with back spasms, also lost defenseman Dylan McIlrath to a leg injury in the first period. While carrying the puck by the Rangers bench, McIlrath was drilled by a Cal Clutterbuck check and remained down the ice before slowly skating directly to the dressing room. McIlrath tested his hurt leg out before the start of period number two, but after a quick twirl he retired again to the locker room and did not reemerge.
Mar 6 - 7:38pm by JimCerny
FINAL STATS
NY RANGERS 4 NY ISLANDERS 6
SOG: NYR 26 NYI 32
SCORING SUMMARY
Scoring Summary
1st Period
02:50 NYI Johnny Boychuk (6) Snap shot - ASST: Josh Bailey (16), Kyle Okposo (35) 1 - 0 NYI
03:35 NYI Brock Nelson (22) Wrist shot - ASST: John Tavares (28), Thomas Hickey (9) 2 - 0 NYI
04:45 NYI PPG - Kyle Okposo (17) Tip-in - ASST: Nick Leddy (27), Frans Nielsen (23) 3 - 0 NYI
11:16 NYR Oscar Lindberg (12) Backhand shot - ASST: Eric Staal (24) 3 - 1 NYI
11:54 NYR Tanner Glass (3) Wrist shot - ASST: Dominic Moore (7), Kevin Hayes (20) 3 - 2 NYI
13:14 NYI Johnny Boychuk (7) Wrist shot - ASST: Anders Lee (19), Nick Leddy (28) 4 - 2 NYI
13:45 NYR Eric Staal (11) Wrist shot - ASST: Dan Boyle (13), Viktor Stalberg (10) 4 - 3 NYI
2nd Period
NONE
3rd Period
11:39 NYR PPG - Derick Brassard (23) Slapshot - ASST: Keith Yandle (32), Derek Stepan (19) 4 - 4 Tie
18:32 NYI Cal Clutterbuck (12) Wrist shot - ASST: Casey Cizikas (18) 5 - 4 NYI
18:59 NYI EN - Frans Nielsen (19) Wrist shot - ASST: Nikolay Kulemin (10) 6 - 4 NYI
PENALTY SUMMARY
Penalty Summary
1st Period
03:58 NYR Kevin Hayes Slashing - 2 min against Shane Prince
14:17 NYR Dominic Moore Hi-sticking - 2 min against Frans Nielsen
19:03 NYI Johnny Boychuk Tripping - 2 min against Kevin Hayes
2nd Period
02:53 NYR Mats Zuccarello Hooking - 2 min against Thomas Hickey
13:22 NYI John Tavares Hi-sticking - 2 min against Keith Yandle
3rd Period
11:39 NYR PPG - Derick Brassard (23) Slapshot - ASST: Keith Yandle (32), Derek Stepan (19) 4 - 4 Tie
18:32 NYI Cal Clutterbuck (12) Wrist shot - ASST: Casey Cizikas (18) 5 - 4 NYI
18:59 NYI EN - Frans Nielsen (19) Wrist shot - ASST: Nikolay Kulemin (10) 6 - 4 NYI
FINAL TEAM STATS
Category NYI NYR
Power Plays 1/3 1/3
Hits 25 38
Faceoff Wins 20 40
Giveaways 14 19
Takeaways 6 8
Blocked Shots 14 12
Penalty Minutes 6 6
NEXT GAME:
The New York Rangers return to action on Tuesday March 8 at 7:00 PM in Buffalo to take on the Sabres.
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