Takeaways: Rittich, Islanders Shut Out Rangers 2-0

Two games against the New York Rangers this season. Two shutout wins for the New York Islanders.

The Islanders stayed perfect against their crosstown rivals this season, scoring a 2-0 win over the Rangers at UBS Arena.

Anders Lee scored in the first minute, Simon Holmstrom scored an empty-netter in the last minute – and David Rittich did everything in between, stopping all 27 shots he saw for his second shutout of the season. Igor Shesterkin stopped 24-of-25 shots in the loss.

The win marked the second time in team history the Isles recorded multiple shutouts against the Rangers in a single season – and first since the 2020-21 season. More importantly, the win put some distance between the Islanders (46 points) and the Rangers (42 points) in the ultra-tight Metropolitan Division standings.

TAKEAWAYS

Head Coach Patrick Roy called Rittich the player of the game and it was hard to argue with the Islanders coach.

“Our goaltender was outstanding,” Roy said. “He was the player of the game in my mind.”

Rittich was locked in from the jump on Saturday, stopping 27 shots he saw for his second shutout of the season. His first – which came 11 minutes into the game – was a backdoor save on Will Cuylle and he faced down an Artemi Panarin breakaway in the second period. He stopped all three shots from Panarin – who had 15 total attempts – but his biggest save came late in the third, stopping Carson Soucy on a penalty shot with the Isles holding a 1-0 lead.

“He’s such a gamer,” Lee said of Rittich. “He was a complete stud tonight. This game had a little bit of everything from all the power plays and our kills to a penalty shot and he stood tall.”

Rittich said he saw Soucy talk to Rangers backup Jonathan Quick on the bench and that signaled a shot for the defenseman. Rittich challenged confidently on the shot and battled for his crease all night, despite taking some contact, including a hit from Cuylle behind the net.

The animated netminder has brought some swagger and energy to the Islanders crease, complementing Ilya Sorokin’s stoicism and he’s been hot of late, going 3-0-1 in his last four games, stopping 119-of-126 over that span.

Rittich, who Roy said might be in line to start in Columbus, didn’t seem too concerned with the clean sheet after the game – the ninth of his career.

“It's great,” Rittich said. “I don't very much care about shutouts. I'm not big shutout guy, because I don't have many of them, so I'm thankful for that. But I don't care if it ends up seven six, but we got two points that's all that matters.”

- The Islanders shook off the holiday rust early, with Lee opening the scoring 58 seconds into the contest. The Islanders’ captain scooped up a Mathew Barzal rebound and deposited his 10^th goal of the season. Kudos to Barzal for going to the net to make a play, something he also did with success a week prior in Buffalo. Lee earned the Iron Man mask for his efforts.

- The Isles led early and protected a lead for 59:02. The Islanders have played six straight low-scoring games (they’ve scored two-or-fewer goals in regulation in each) but they look comfortable in uncomfortable situations. They killed off three Rangers power plays, including two in the final six minutes while protecting a 1-0 lead.

Roy said he likes the commitment and the way his team is defending and he’s seeing a confident group on the ice.

“I do believe that we are playing with more confidence, maybe than we had when the season started,” Roy said. “We have some clarity in what we're doing and we're coming out, and we stay in the present moment and enjoy the ride.”

- Bo Horvat returned to the Islanders lineup after missing five games with a lower-body injury. Horvat skated 22:42 with four shots, nine total attempts, three blocked shots and won 12-of-20 (60%) of faceoffs.

Horvat said he felt better as the game wore on and his best chance was a ripper off the crossbar on a late third period power play.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders are back in action on Sunday night as they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second half of a back-to-back set. Puck drop is at 5 PM.