Rittich makes 27 saves, Islanders shut out Rangers

ELMONT, N.Y. – David Rittich made 27 saves for his second shutout of the season, and the New York Islanders won 2-0 against the New York Rangers at UBS Arena on Saturday.

“It's great,” Rittich said of the shutout. “I don't really care much about shutouts. I'm not a big shutout guy because I don't have many of them, so I'm thankful for that but I don't care. If you end up 7-6, we got two points. That’s all that matters.”

Anders Lee and Simon Holmstrom scored for the Islanders (21-13-4), who have points in three straight (2-0-1) and face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday for the second of a back-to-back.

“Absolutely, from the start to the end,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said about the energy level his team brought to the game. “It was a hard-fought game, and both goalies were outstanding. There were a lot of chances, and I thought they made some great saves and kept the score where it was. … Our players deserve a lot of credit for the hard work they put into it, and I really feel like the way we defend, and the commitment that we make to defend, is impressive by our players.”

The Rangers (19-17-4) were shut out for the eighth time this season. Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves.

“They started a little better, I would say, than us,” Rangers defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov said. “But then we grabbed a hold of that. That was a pretty even game, I would say. We probably could be more decisive from both sides. Obviously, our penalty kill was very good. It was pretty tight until the end.”

The Rangers went 0-3 on the power play, while the Islanders went 0-5.

Lee gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at the 58-second mark of the first period. Rangers defenseman Carson Soucy turned the puck over in front to forward Mathew Barzal. Shesterkin made the initial save on Barzal, but Lee beat him blocker side on the rebound to extend his personal point streak to five games.

Rittich slid across his crease to deny a Will Cuylle 2-on-1 try at the back post at 11:26. The Islanders were up 5-0 in shots until that point.

Cuylle thought he scored to tie it 1-1 at 14:37 of the second period on the power play. After initially being called a goal on the ice, it was determined that the puck never crossed the goal line and his wrist shot instead went off the left post.

Rittich denied Soucy’s penalty shot with the left pad at 9:18 of the third period to keep the Islanders in front. Forward Calum Ritchie drew the penalty on Soucy with a slash on the breakaway attempt.

"He's such a gamer. He's a gamer,” Lee said of Rittich. “He shows up. He's just such a stud. I thought he was a complete stud tonight."

Holmstrom scored on the empty-net goal at 19:43 of the third period for the 2-0 final.

“We had a fair amount [of chances],” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. “We had a couple of 2-on-1s, a breakaway. There were some plays in the offensive zone where I thought we had two on the inside. We delivered some pucks from the blue line. There was some opportunity there. Is there ever enough offense? Yeah, you know, probably not. We always wish and want more, but we didn't finish on the ones, obviously, that we had tonight.”

NOTES: The Islanders shut out the Rangers for the second time this season (5-0 on Nov. 8) and have earned multiple shutouts in a campaign against their intrastate rival for the second time, following four times in 2020-21. … Islanders forward Bo Horvat returned after a five-game absence. … Rittich became the first Islanders goaltender to shut out the Rangers at home since Ilya Sorokin on Oct. 26, 2022.