Game Preview: Islanders at Rangers

NEW YORK ISLANDERS AT NEW YORK RANGERS
7PM | MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
WATCH: MSG+ | MSG GO | NHL.TV
LISTEN: 1050AM | 88.7FM | 103.9FM

The New York Islanders and New York Rangers meet for their second game of the season and the second in the span of three days on Saturday, Jan. 16 at Madison Square Garden. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

FIRST MEETING:
The Islanders opened their 2020-21 season campaign with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Rangers on Thursday at MSG.
The Islanders' first win of the season was sparked by a three-goal first period and was cemented with two power-play goals. Brock Nelson opened up scoring for the season 2:33 into the first period on the power play, while Anders Lee scored his first of two goals in the game 1:19 after Nelson's strike. Mathew Barzal made it 3-0 heading into the first intermission. Lee scored his second goal of the game in the second period on the man advantage. Semyon Varlamov recorded 24 saves in his first win and shutout of the season. In total, eight players contributed to the scoresheet and earned their first point of the season in the win.
The Islanders outshot the Rangers 33-24, were two-for-eight on the power play, posted a perfect three-for-three penalty kill and dominated the face-off circle with a 59% edge over the Blueshirts.
The group credited their dominant performance to a diligent training camp prior and a determined mindset to take advantage of every game in this abbreviated 56-game season.
"There's still something that this group has to build off of," Lee said postgame. "When you get that close like we did last season, it makes you just want to get back to that spot and take that next step. You can't just get there, you've still got to play a whole regular season and put all of the work in. It started with that mentality tonight. We have a long ways to go, but we have a great foundation to build off of. Our group is really excited for that challenge."

ISLANDERS NOTES:
• Lee leads the Islanders in scoring with two goals. The Islanders' captain was 'fantastic' in his season debut according to Head Coach Barry Trotz. Lee logged the second-highest ice time among forwards of 18:08 and 7:32 on the power play, rifled off a team-high of eight shots and threw two hits.
• Nick Leddy is tied with Lee for the Islanders leaderboard in points. The defenseman recorded two assists in the win; a secondary assist on Nelson's goal and the primary assist on Lee's first goal. Leddy logged the highest ice time of skaters with a 21:13 time on ice, including 7:21 on the power play and fired off two shots.
• Nelson's goal was assisted by Anthony Beauvillier and Leddy.
• Barzal's goal was assisted by Cal Clutterbuck.
• Lee's second goal, on the power play, was assisted by Eberle and Dobson.
• As a line, Lee, Barzal and Eberle combined for four points (3G, 1A) and 15 of the Islanders' 33 shots.
• Barzal and Leddy earned the highest plus-rating on the night as both skaters finished the game plus-two.
• Jean-Gabriel Pageau centered Kieffer Bellows and Ross Johnston. Bellows, who originally was listed on the Islanders' taxi squad had a strong showing. Bellows logged 10:25 of ice time, but posted a game-high of eight hits.
• Varlamov's shutout marks the first time in franchise history since 1976 when Chico Resch did so in 1976 that a goaltender recorded a shutout in the season opener.

RANGERS NOTES:
• Former Islander Ryan Strome logged the most time on ice for Rangers' forwards. Strome played 20:18, including 4:10 on the power play and 5:36 on the penalty kill.
• Defenseman Jacob Trouba played the most with 22:47 time on ice, including 0:52 on the power play and 5:59 on the penalty kill.
• Artemi Panarin, Julien Gauthier, Chris Kreider, Kappo Kakko, Filip Chytil and Trouba all tied the Rangers for the most shots on goal with two shots each.
• Kreider threw a team-high four hits.
• The Rangers eight penalties were taken by Jack Johnson (first period for holding), Mika Zibanejad (first period for slashing), a too many men on the ice whistle (first period), Ryan Lindgren (charging in the second period), Alexis Lafreniere (second period for hooking), Tony DeAngelo (third period for holding) and for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Zibanejad's second call against him for slashing.
• Lafreniere and K'Andre Miller both made their NHL debuts in the season opener. Lafreniere, who the Rangers selected first overall at the 2020 NHL Draft, played 15:21 in his debut, including 1:36 on the power play and 2:10 on the penalty kill, had one shot, one hit and one block. Miller, who the Rangers selected 22nd overall at the 2018 NHL Draft, logged 13:59 on the blue line, including 42 seconds on the PK, had one shot on goal and one hit.
• Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers rookie 25-year-old netminder, made 29 saves on 33 shots. Shesterkin earned a .879 SV%.
• Kevin Rooney, who played in his season debut with the Rangers after two seasons with the New Jersey Devils, left the game early in the third following a mid-ice collision with Johnston. Head Coach David Quinn confirmed that Rooney is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
• Quinn also confirmed on Friday, Jan. 15 that Alexandar Georgiev will start in net for the Rangers on Saturday. Last season, Georgiev earned a record of 17-14-0, made 32 starts, posted a 3.04 GAA and a .910 SV%. Georgiev has played some of his best hockey against the Islanders, posting a 5-2-0 record - including three wins last season - with a 2.09 GAA and a .934 SV%