Livescore
It only made sense that in a crossroads game the New York Islanders would skate against their cross-town rival New York Rangers.
But the night would not go the Islanders way, and the slow fade from playoff contention continued, losing 5-1 and their forth in a row, leaving them well on the wildcard outside, looking in.
Ilya Sorokin got the start for the Islanders, with Igor Shesterkin taking the net for the Rangers, while Adam Boqvist drew into the lineup in place of Scott Mayfield.
Here is how the game unfolded:
The Islanders were aggressive early, with the second line of Simon Holmstrom, Brock Nelson, and Kyle Palmieri finding chances in the opening minutes.
Despite the Islanders owning the game’s first seven shots on goal, the Rangers found the scoresheet first when Urho Vaakanainen scored on the Rangers’ first shot of the game.
He crept in from the blue line and fired a wrist shot past Sorokin at 6:22 for his second goal of the season:
Reilly Smith also earned an assist on the play.
The Islanders quickly fought back when Alexander Romanov got a wrist shot through traffic at 8:19 for his third goal of the season:
Brock Nelson’s assist on this play extended his point streak to three games.
Despite controlling play, the Islanders once again found themselves trailing when a Jonny Brodzinski shot deflected off Scott Perunovich’s skate to beat Sorokin at 12:19:
In the final minute of the opening frame, the Rangers took a 3-1 lead when Brodzinski potted his second goal in under seven minutes
He received an Adam Fox feed near the blue line before sending a wrist shot past Sorokin’s glove:
The Islanders outshot the Rangers 9-5 in the first period.
The Islanders pushed early in the second period, with chances from Nelson, Anthony Duclair, Bo Horvat, and Max Tsyplakov.
The Rangers fought back minutes later when Vincent Trochek was left alone in front of the net, forcing Sorokin to make a sprawling save to keep it a two-goal game.
An Adam Pelech holding penalty against Artemi Panarin was called at 3:55, but the Islanders survived the kill.
At 11:21, Mika Zibanejad set up J.T. Miller in front of the net, where he slipped a five-hole shot past Sorokin, marking his fifth goal in eight games since being traded to the Rangers:
The Rangers continued to dominate the front of the net, and at 16:30, beat Sorokin for the fifth time in the game.
Once again by the Rangers’ fourth line, Brodzinski’s shot from the blue line was deflected by Matt Rempe to beat Sorokin:
The Islanders outshot the Rangers 15-7 in the second period.
Sorokin stayed on the bench to start the third. Jakub Skarek made his second NHL appearance.
3:16 into the third Adam Fox was called for hooking Kyle MacLean, but the Isles could not score on the power play and finished the night 0-1 on the power play.
The Islanders could not muster much during the rest of the third, while the Rangers coasted to the finish line.
The Islanders fired 36 shots on goal, but the Blueshirts managed to keep most shots to the outside — and from low-percentage angles.
With the loss the Islanders fall back to .500 at 25-25-7 and have now lost four in a row.
The Islanders skate next Thursday in Boston versus the Bruins at 7PM.
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