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…