3 Takeaways: Isles Fall 5-2 to Rangers

The New York Islanders fell 5-2 to the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden as their winless streak reached four games (0-3-1). 

Bo Horvat had a pair of goals for the Islanders and Brock Nelson had a two-assist night, but it wasn’t enough to overcome goals from Mika Zibanejad, Will Cuylle, Jonny Brodzinski, Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere. Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves in the loss, while Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves in the win. 

The Islanders (73 points, 67 GP) remain out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, as they missed an opportunity to move past he Washington Capitals (73 points, 66 GP) and Detroit Red Wings (74 points, 67 games), who leapfrogged the Islanders in the standings with wins on Saturday. 

"We definitely didn't have enough pushback," Bo Horvat said after the loss. "We did have a couple of chances, but in this stage of the season, we need to have a lot better push than that."

The Isles have been outscored 16-5 over the span of their four-game winless streak and their  record on the second half of back-to-back sets dropped to 0-5-3. The Islanders now trail the season series with the Rangers 0-2-0 and will face the Rangers two more times this season on Apr. 9 and 13.

ISLES DEFENSE STRUGGLES:

The Islanders defensive struggles ultimately hurt them, as they allowed three goals in the middle frame and two goals in the third period, allowing four-or-more goals for the third-consecutive game.

While the Isles have struggled on the back half of back-to-backs, the Rangers improved to 11-1-0 on the second day of a back-to-back and came out with noticeable jump in the first period. The Isles exited the period 1-0, largely thanks to 12 saves by Ilya Sorokin.

"I saw a team that played better than us today," Head Coach Patrick Roy said. "The Rangers managed the puck much better than we did. They were very fast on transition, and I thought they had more energy than us for some reason."

The Islanders’ second period struggles persisted on Sunday, allowing three Rangers goals in the second period after they allowed three goals against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, two goals against the St. Louis Blues on Mar. 5. The Islanders lead the league in most goals allowed in second periods (93), but their first period numbers tell a different story.

It started early, as Mika Zibanejad evened the score 27 seconds into the middle frame. After the Islanders let a first period 1-0 lead slip away, Horvat’s second goal of the afternoon tied the game at two, but the Islanders broke down defensively, allowing the Rangers to re-take the lead 66 seconds later.

Jonny Brodzinski re-directed a K’Andre Miller one-timer to regain the 3-2 lead at 15:01 of the middle frame, which held up as the game-winner. The Rangers extended their lead to 4-2 at 2:36 of the third frame as Kaapo Kaako’s wrister from the right dot beat Sorokin through traffic. Alexis Lafreniere took a commanding 5-2 lead for the Rangers midway through the third period.

“I felt like we didn’t cover well in those situations,” Roy said. “The [Rangers] were moving well and they forechecked us well and they managed the puck better than us.”

HORVAT NETS TWO GOALS:

Horvat had a strong effort against the Rangers, providing the Islanders’ offense with his 28th and 29th goals of the season.

Horvat opened the scoring on the penalty kill after Pierre Engvall broke his stick and took a holding penalty. After a brief four-on-four stretch, the Isles were aggressive and Brock Nelson sauced a perfect pass to Horvat from behind the goal line, while Horvat ripped off a quick sharp angle shot that beat Igor Shesterkin at the 14:08 mark of the first period.

The tally marked the first shorthanded goal of the season for the 28-year-old center and second with the Isles. The tally also marked the first shorthanded tally against the Rangers since Feb. 16, 2017 when Nikolay Kulemin scored a shorthanded goal in a 4-2 Isles victory.

Horvat netted his second of the night at 13:55 of the second period, getting to the front of the net and edging out Barclay Goodrow to knock a backdoor chance past Shesterkin. Horvat also beat Goodrow on the offensive-zone face-off to kick off the sequence.

In the process, Horvat tied Brock Nelson for the team lead in goals (29) and his two-goal performance marked his fourth multi-goal game of the season. He’s three points away from his milestone 500th NHL point.

"Bo was lethal tonight," Barzal said. "He played a really solid game, I wish my line some other lines could give him some help on the scoreboard."

LINEUP CHANGES:

Head Coach Patrick Roy made some changes to his lineup, swapping Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmieri to give his top two lines a new look.

Palmieri played on a line with Nelson and Horvat and the line combined for six shots and one hit. Barzal played with Anders Lee and JG Pageau, as their line combined for 10 shots and four hits.

Roy also made changes on defense to start the contest, pairing Noah Dobson with Alexander Romanov and Ryan Pulock with Adam Pelech, but the pairs reverted back to Dobson-Pelech and Romanov-Pulock within the first few minutes of the opening period.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders return home to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday at UBS Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.