Rangers Struggle Again Against Islanders
This season, when the Rangers faced off against the Islanders, they just couldn’t find the back of the net. In their last meeting this past Saturday at UBS Arena—without Ilya Sorokin, who had previously shut them out—the Rangers lost 2-0, with veteran goalie David Rittich making 27 saves.
This loss marks the eighth shutout for the Rangers in just 40 games (19-17-4). They’re inching closer to the NHL record of 16 shutouts held by the Blue Jackets since the 2006-07 season. It’s a tough spot for the team.
After the game, Artemi Panarin expressed his frustrations, especially regarding their power play, which went 0-for-3. “It felt like everything went wrong,” he observed. “We really have to score at least once on the power play, especially at crucial moments.”
Panarin continued, “I think we usually bounce back well from games like this, but honestly, it’s tough to ignore that we’ve had eight scoreless games this season. It’s really frustrating, and we need to get better.”
Unlike their earlier defeat on November 8, when the Islanders won 5-0, the Rangers had their moments in this match. Just 58 seconds in, the Isles took the lead with a goal from Anders Lee, set up by Matthew Barzal. It seemed like they grabbed the momentum quickly.
A few minutes later, after a power play chance, the Rangers finally registered their first shot on goal after over eleven minutes, when Will Quill managed to get a shot off during a 2-on-1 rush that tested Rittich.
Things started to turn around for the Rangers post that moment, even though Rittich faced some pressure including a tricky one-timer shot from Vincent Trocheck that he stopped skillfully. At the end of the first period, the Rangers had a slight edge in shots, 10-7. Coach Mike Sullivan noted, “From the first drop, they were just faster and stronger. But after that, we started to find our rhythm.”
Still, Sullivan added, “Have we had enough offense lately? Probably not. We always want more, and it’s clear we fell short tonight.”
In a pivotal moment, Panarin took a bad penalty that set up the Islanders’ second goal. Although the Rangers had a chance to tie with a shot that appeared to go in, a review showed it hadn’t crossed the line after striking the crossbar.
Midway through the final period, Rittich denied a penalty shot from Soucy, who was fouled by Cal Ritchie. The Rangers were granted a couple of late power plays, even getting a 6-on-4 scenario when Igor Shesterkin was pulled. But, that, too, was fruitless as Simon Holmström clinched the win with an empty-net goal.
Mika Zibanejad summed it up well: “I think it was a close game overall, but they clearly played better. We need to figure out how to score if we want to win; we had our chances but didn’t convert.”
