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No. 1 pick keeps promise, Islanders sweep Rangers with 2-1 win: Takeaways
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- No. 1 pick keeps promise, Islanders sweep Rangers with 2-1 win: Takeaways
Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images
Matthew Schaefer talked the talk, and then walked the walk. And as such, the New York Islanders finished a season series sweep of the New York Rangers with a 2-1 victory Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
Shortly after the Islanders selected Schaefer with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft last June, the precocious defenseman stated, "We're going to beat the Rangers every time we play them."
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Well, at least for his first season in the NHL, Schaefer is right. And he backed up those words by scoring the game-winner Thursday. The Rangers lost all four games against the Islanders this season by an aggregate 14-3 score, including 5-2 at UBS Arena on Wednesday night in the first of a home-and-home set this week.
The goal was Schaefer's first against the Rangers, and his second point in four games vs. the Blueshirts. Carson Soucy , who was traded to the Islanders by the Rangers on Monday, also scored for the visitors, and goalie Ilya Sorokin finished with 20 saves.
Mika Zibanejad scored his team-leading 23rd goal for the Rangers (22-27-6), who've lost 10 of their past 12 games (2-9-1). Jonathan Quick stopped 19 of 21 shots, including all 10 in the third period.
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Outside of a handful of one-and-done opportunities, this one was largely a low-energy, low-event snoozefest. That is until out of nowhere the Islanders struck for a pair of goals late in the second period to take a 2-0 lead.
Soucy somehow snuck a slapper from the bottom of the left circle past Quick at 17:18, scoring on just the third shot of the period and ninth of the game for the Islanders. Simply, it was a bad goal allowed by Quick. And it came off the stick of a player who was a Rangers teammate just 72 hours prior, because of course it did. That's just how this season's gone for the Rangers.
You can further add salt to the wound by pointing out that shortly before Quick gave up that softie, Sorokin made a terrific blocker save to deny J.T. Miller after a slick give and go with Zibanejad.
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Because, of course.
Just 1:35 after Soucy opened the scoring, Schaefer fired a tracer through a Simon Holmstrom screen to make it 2-0 Islanders at 18:53. With his 14th goal, Schaefer moved past the legendary Bobby Orr for the second most goals scored by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history. Hall-of-Famer Phil Housley holds the record with 17.
It was a deflating way to end the period after the Rangers held the Islanders to only five shots. But they regrouped in the intermission, and quickly took advantage of a power-play opportunity early in the third period to get right back in the game.
With Ryan Pulock in the penalty box for boarding Gabe Perreault , Zibanejad unloaded an absolute missile from the left circle that whistled past Sorokin to make it 2-1 at 2:48 of the third. It was that patented old-school power-play shot by Zibanejad, who buried a pass right into his wheelhouse by Vladisalv Gavrikov .
However, the Rangers couldn't carry that positive mojo into their next power-play opportunity, when the Islanders were assessed a bench minor penalty for abuse of officials at 6:59. The Islanders regrouped and easily killed off the penalty and maintained their one-goal lead.
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There were a couple decent looks for each side the rest of the way, but no sustained pressure, and the Rangers went quietly down to defeat yet again.
Key takeaways after Rangers lose 2-1 to Islanders
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1. Mika Mojo
It wasn't just that power-play one-time bomb from the left circle, though that sure brought back some memories. But let's face it, Zibanejad has that old swag back. He ditched the mopey disposition from last season and continues to be the Rangers best player game-in and game-out this season.
Even without Artemi Panarin in the lineup again — scratched for "roster management purposes" ahead of a trade before the March 6 deadline — Zibanejad continued to produce and generate most of the Rangers offense Thursday. He scored a goal for the second straight night, led the Rangers with five shots on goal and 10 attempts, and now has points in 13 of 14 games since Dec. 31.
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His 51 points are second to Panarin's 57 for most on the Rangers , and just 11 shy of his total from all of last season. And that goal he scored Thursday? It was his 273rd with the Rangers, moving him past Andy Bathgate into sole possession of fifth place in franchise history — behind Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle, Chris Kreider , and Adam Graves.
2. Get used to it
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The Islanders aren't going to win every game they play against the Rangers just because Schaefer said so on his draft day. However, the Rangers better get used to trying to stop this kid because he's a handful now, and just may become a generational talent moving forward. In other words, he's the new face of this rivalry on the Islanders side. It's still too early to draw Denis Potvin comparisons, but, well, it's starting to feel that he's already worthy.
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Schaefer's averaging more than 24 minutes TOI, and coach Patrick Roy doesn't shelter him one bit. The kid's 36 points are third most among all NHL rookies , and second on the Islanders. And he's sure not shy about stoking the flames of this fairly dormant rivalry.
"It's so fun. You want to beat them every time," Schafer said postgame. "It's a playoff game from here on out. Especially against the Rangers, you want to get those two points. It's fun when you're beating them."
3. Checking in on the Rangers kids
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More than wins and losses the rest of this season, it's the development of the young players in the lineup, and assessing where each stands in the retool, that's most important to the Rangers. To that end, it was mostly a quiet night for the kids in this overall sleepy affair against the Islanders.
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Brennan Othmann didn't generate much if any offense on the third line, but he did record five hits, second most on the Rangers behind Will Cuylle (six), who likewise failed to post a shot on goal. Speaking of posts, rookie defenseman Scott Morrow rang a shot off the iron roughly five minutes into the game and remains without a goal with the Rangers.
Brett Berard received 10 shifts and logged 8:45 TOI without a shot on goal playing on the fourth line after his recall from Hartford of the American Hockey League. He's pointless in 13 games with the Rangers this season. Noah Laba also didn't record a shot on goal, but he did win five of seven face-offs (71 percent).
Perreault did stand out with five shots on goal, again fitting in well with his veteran linemates Zibanejad and Miller.
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