Takeaways: Islanders Top Rangers 5-2 for Second Straight Win

The New York Islanders had some new faces in their lineup on Wednesday night, but it was a familiar result against their archrivals.

The Isles skated to a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers ng their third straight win over the Blueshirts this season, kicking off a home-and-home set on a high note.

Ondrej Palat (PPG, 1A) Simon Holmstrom (1G, 1A), Mathew Barzal (PPG), JG Pageau (1G, 1A) and Emil Heineman provided offense while David Rittich backstopped the Islanders with 14 saves. Mika Zibanejad and Taylor Raddysh scored for the Rangers while Spencer Martin turned aside 31 of 36 Islanders shots in the loss.

The Islanders (63 points) are in third in the Metropolitan Division, tied in points with the Pittsburgh Penguins (63 points) who are in second in the division. The Islanders are up 3-0-0 in the season series so far, outscoring the Rangers 12-2, looking to sweep the season series when the teams rematch at MSG on Thursday.

“We have to bring that same energy tomorrow, it’s another big one,” Ryan Pulock said.

TAKEAWAYS

- The Islanders saw a pair of debuts against the Rangers, with Palat and Carson Soucy playing their first games with their new team after being acquired in the last 48 hours. It was a short runway to acclimate to a new team, but they gelled with the group off the bat and Roy said he prepped them both with video ahead of their first skate with the team on Wednesday morning.

- Palat had a two-point game (PPG, 1A), converting a pass from Holmstrom and one-timing a shot from the slot through Martin. In addition to his goal and secondary assist on Heineman’s goal, Palat logged 11:53 TOI and recorded two hits and two shots on goal on a line with Heineman and Bo Horvat.

“I thought for my first game, we played pretty well,” Palat said. “Bo and Emil helped me so much, as well as the whole team.”

- Soucy, who played against his former team in his debut, had a solid first game out in the eyes of his teammates and Roy. Soucy logged 16:38 TOI, two shots on goal, two hits and one blocked shot on a pair with Scott Mayfield.

“It’s nice to have a veteran like this coming in,” Roy said of Soucy. “Him and Mayfield had a strong game, they were physical, and I feel like it brings an element we lost when Romanov got hurt.”

- Heineman had a strong performance with a second period goal that gave the Islanders a 5-2 lead, a quick shot from the slot off a nice feed from Adam Pelech

- The Islanders produced two power-play goals and are now with 5-for-21 on the man advantage in their last five games. After not converting on a two minute five-on-three, the Islanders broke through with under 30 seconds left in the power play, as Holmstrom sent a cross-ice pass from the goal line to Barzal, who buried the third goal of the game for the Islanders and regained a two-goal lead at the 13:12 mark of the second period.

“That was a key moment of the game,” Roy said of Barzal’s power-play, game-winning goal goal. “We needed to find a way to score a goal and that’s that we did. That was a super nice play by Holmstromto Barzy. It was a big goal for us, gave us a 3-1 lead, we had to cash in on the situation.”

- Holmstrom had a three-point performance, which was his third three-point outing of the season and fifth of his career. After recording the primary helper on Palat’s goal, he continued to make an impact with a tally of his own when he stuffed in Tony DeAngelo’s shot from the point. Roy said that Holmstrom is a “threat” every game and his linemate, Pageau, had a similar perspective.

“I keep praising him, I won’t stop,” Pageau said. “He’s playing with that confidence right now, he’s a huge part of this organization and game after game. He’s a game-changer, and he showed that tonight, that he can change the game on his stick and I’m lucky to play with him.”

- Rittich improved his record to 5-0-0 against the Rangers in his career, as he was in net for two of the Islanders’ three wins this season, including a 2-0 shutout win on Dec. 27. His shutout streak against the Rangers ended at 78:04 after Zibanejad broke through with a power-play goal at the 18:04 mark of the first period.

- The Islanders were dominant on shots, finishing the game with a 36-16 shot advantage, including recording the first six shots of the contest.

- Pulock returned after a two-game absence with an upper-body injury.

NEXT GAME

The Islanders will see their crosstown rivals again very soon, as they’ll take on the Rangers at Madison Square Garden to close out the season series and the home-and-home, back-to-back set. Puck drop is at 7PM.