NEW YORK, NY — The New York Islanders lost the special teams battle, allowing a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal in a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.
They spoiled another impressive performance by Ilya Sorokin, who stopped 35 of 39 shots and made one impressive save after another to keep the game as close as he could.
With three starting defensemen out, Samuel Bolduc and Grant Hutton played. Bolduc did not play the final 26:50 after a costly mistake in the second.
Here’s how the game unfolded:
The Islanders got off to a strong start, outshooting the Rangers 4-0 in the opening few minutes and dominating the offensive zone.
The Rangers’ first shot on goal, at 3:44 of the first, was the only goal of the period, courtesy of Chris Kreider while shorthanded.
From the left boards in the neutral zone, Dobson decided to throw the puck to the middle of the ice. Mika Zibanejad picked the pass off, fed Kreider in transition, and got it back before hitting Kreider at the glove-side post:
The Islanders did have their chances on Shesterkin, their best chance an off-the-rush play that found Dobson in all alone at 11:24 of the first.
Sorokin was brilliant, stopping nine of 10 shots he faced.
His best save came at 4:17 of the first, absolutely robbing Reilly Smith in the low slot with the left pad:
Related: WATCH: Islanders Goalie Ilya Sorokin Robs Rangers Reilly Smith In First Period
Shesterkin faced 11 shots, stopping them all.
Kyle Palmieri, who left in the first period after taking a follow-through to the face, came back at the start of the second.
The Islanders went down 2-0 at 1:21 of the second after Vincent Trocheck buried a slot pass from Reilly Smith after a Samuel Bolduc turnover.
Casey Cizikas scored his first of the season at 4:38 of the second after he jumped on a loose rebound in the low slot following a basic Pierre Engvall wrist shot from the left dot:
Holmstrom earned the secondary assist on the goal.
In a period full of penalties, four to be exact, Artemi Panarin beat Sorokin through a screen at 11:04 of the middle frame after the shot went through Trochek’s legs and over the left pad:
The Islanders beat the second-period horn to pull within one after Anders Lee fed Kyle Palmieri across the offensive zone. Palmieri then toe-dragged around a sprawled-out Jacob Trouba before he found Brock Nelson at the glove side post with eight seconds to play in the frame:
The Islanders outshot the Rangers 17-16, with both goalies playing tremendous.
The third began with Simon Holmstrom taking an offensive-zone holding penalty. His teammates bailed him out.
Out of the box, Holmstrom fed Horvat at the blocker-side post, but Shesterkin saved it.
The Rangers took a 4-2 lead at 5:21 of the third after Adam Edstrom deflected a Braden Schneider point shot:
Panarin added an empty net goal from his own end of the ice, and the Rangers went ahead 5-2 16:37 into the third.
The Islanders could not come back, failing to build on their win against the Sabres.
UP NEXT: The Islanders host the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:30 PM ET.
