The New York Rangers completed a brutal week of hockey. On Sunday afternoon, they defeated the New York Islanders 5-3 and extended their Metropolitan Division lead to six points over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Rangers earn a win on St. Patty’s Day
A hard week of hockey concluded with the Blueshirts winning their fifth game in seven days, defeating the New York Islanders on a St. Patty’s matinee at Madison Square Garden.
The bottom six forwards were the game’s stars, with Kappo Kakko, Jon Brodinski, and Will Cuyle joining Alexis Lafreniere and Mika Zibanejad, all scoring goals in the win. The Islanders lost for the fourth consecutive game making the road to the playoffs less likely.
“You saw in that first period, that was a great start by us,” Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck said. “I thought the second period was really good. Just staying consistent. You saw it all the way up and down our lineup today. Nobody took the game off.”
Stefen Rosner of NHL.com
The Rangers’ only loss in this stretch of hockey was on Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Yesterday’s afternoon game was the team’s 12th and final back-to-back set. With the win over the Isles, the Rangers were 11-1 on the second end of back-to-back contests this season.
Brodinski’s second-period goal was the game-winner. He redirected a K’Andre Miller one-timer to make it 3-2. Miller has two assists in the game. The defenseman had now recorded 172 points, the third most by a defense in the NHL.
Ryan Lindgren injured in the win
There was a stack in yesterday’s win. Defenseman Ryan Lindgren suffered what looked to be a knee injury in the second period after he fell awkwardly with Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau behind the Rangers’ net. There was no update postgame.
Following the game, Rangers forward Matt Remepe’s suspension ended. He can dress for the team’s next game, Tuesday night at MSG, against the Winnipeg Jets.
Notes from the Rangers’ win
The Rangers have won 45 games for a third consecutive season. There are only two other stretches in franchise history that spanned three or more consecutive campaigns: 2013-14 to 2016-17 (4) and 1970-71 to 1972-73 (3).
Alexis Lafreniere scored his 19th goal, extending his point streak to three games (1G-2A). He has 11 points in his last 14 games (5G-6A) and 15 points (8G-7A) in his previous 20 games. The Blueshirts are 16-0-1 when he scores a goal this season.
Igor Shesterkin stopped 25 of 27 shots to improve to 9-2-1 over his last 12 games and has earned points in 13 of his last 16 starts. His 29 wins rank tied for sixth in the NHL.
Follow Frank on X at @RangerProud.