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Rangers blanked again by Isles, waste Shesterkin gem in 2-0 loss: Takeaways
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- Rangers blanked again by Isles, waste Shesterkin gem in 2-0 loss: Takeaways
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The New York Rangers are still looking for their first goal of the season against the New York Islanders .
The Blueshirts failed for the second time in as many games this season to score against their archrivals. Backup goaltender David Rittich was perfect on 27 shots as the Islanders skated off with a 2-0 victory at UBS Arena on Saturday night – exactly seven weeks after they embarrassed the Rangers 5-0 at Madison Square Garden.
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Rittich, playing in place of injured starter Ilya Sorokin , handed the Rangers their eighth shutout loss this season, two shy of the dubious team record set in 1928-29 – when the rules were vastly different. His biggest save of the game came 9:18 into the third period when he denied Carson Soucy on a penalty shot, and he also stopped Artemi Panarin on a second-period breakaway.
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The victory was Rittich's fourth in as many career games against the Rangers; he's allowed a total of three goals in those games.
Rittich, the game's First Star, outplayed Igor Shesterkin, the Third Star, who was perfect after the Islanders scored 58 seconds into the game.
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Simon Holmstrom iced the win when he hit the empty net with 17 seconds remaining after the Rangers failed to score on two power plays in the final 5:19.
It was a disappointing night for the Rangers, who failed to build on their 7-3 road win against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. Instead, they fell to 1-2-0 on a six-game road trip that continues with visits to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night and the Capitals for a New Year's Eve matinee before they play the Florida Panthers in the NHL Winter Classic on Friday in Miami.
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The Isles made the Rangers pay for not being ready from the opening face-off after three days off. They controlled the play from the opening draw and took a quick 1-0 lead when Anders Lee picked up the rebound of Mathew Barzal 's shot and snapped a 10-footer past Shesterkin.
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The Isles continued to dominate through the first 10 minutes; the Rangers had one good chance less than four minutes into the game, but Panarin fired wide on a 2-on-1. That turned out to be their only shot attempt until shortly after the 11-minute mark, when the Rangers finally made Rittich work as they began to find their legs.
Their best scoring chance came with 8:35 remaining, but Rittich stopped Will Cuylle on a drive to the net and got his pad on the rebound. Rittich also made a big stop on Vincent Trocheck a few minutes later, and another an instant before the buzzer.
The Isles skated off with the 1-0 lead, but their shots on goal margin had been whittled to 10-7.
"We had a bad first 10-12 minutes," Mika Zibanejad told MSG between periods. "We were half a second slow everywhere. We did a better job (after that) getting into their zone and spending some time there."
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The Rangers reversed the shot count in the second period, outshooting their archrivals 10-7, but came up empty again. It wasn't for lack of trying – Rittich stopped Panarin on a clean breakaway eight minutes in, and the Blueshirts had the better of play for most of the period.
They got a scare just past the 11-minute park when Braden Schneider drew a hooking penalty by knocking Isles forward Max Shabanov into Shesterkin, who was slow to get up. But the TV timeout gave him a chance to skate to the bench and tell everyone he was OK.
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The Rangers thought they had tied the game at 14:37, when Cuylle beat Rittich cleanly on a 4-on-2 power-play rush. Cuylle went to the bench and started the reception line — but before the Blueshirts could celebrate, the War Room in Toronto said "not so fast" because a video review showed that while the puck did indeed beat Rittich, but hit the crossbar and stayed out.
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Rittich made another fine stop on Brennan Othmann, and the period ended the way it began, with the home side up 1-0.
The two goalies matched big saves in the third period, with each team failing on two power plays. But Rittich made the save of the game when he got his pad on Soucy's penalty-shot wrister and was perfect the rest of the way.
"We need to find a way to score to win games," Zibanejad said, "and we didn't do that today."
Key takeaways after Islanders blank Rangers 2-0
What a difference a year makes
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The Rangers' inability to score against their suburban rivals is a complete 180 from last season, when they swept the Islanders in the four-game season series and outscored them 23-5. That includes a 9-2 humiliation on April 10 that had the Blueshirt faithful who attended the game dancing in the aisles at UBS Arena.
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But this season is another story. The Rangers didn't put up a lot of resistance in the 5-0 loss at the Garden last month, but they had plenty of scoring chances after the middle of the first period – their edge in high-danger chances after the first period was 11-6, according to Natural Stat Trick.
However, as has often been the case this season, the Rangers couldn't turn chances into goals. Their eight shutout losses are the most in the NHL and already the fifth-highest total in team history. That two of the eight have come against their biggest rival just adds a little salt in the wound.
Slow start is costly
Teams can't practice or travel during the NHL's Christmas break, so it's not surprising that teams, especially road teams, might need a few minutes to get their bearings on the first day back.
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Unfortunately for the Rangers, the Islanders didn't give them that luxury.
The Isles came out flying from the drop of the puck, pushing the play and taking the lead on Lee's goal before the game was a minute old. The Rangers spent the rest of the night chasing the game but never caught up. They had the better of play for most of the final 2 1/2 periods but couldn't get a puck past Rittich.
""I thought they got momentum from the first shift. They were quicker to the puck, harder on the puck," coach Mike Sullivan said of the Islanders. "After the first 8-9 minutes, we started to play and then we were fine."
Shesterkin does everything but win
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There wasn't much else Shesterkin could do to help his team win.
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He had no chance on Lee's goal — but kept the Rangers in the game long enough for them to get their bearings midway through the first period. By that time, it was apparent that No. 31 had his "A" game and would be almost impossible to beat. He stopped the final 25 shots he faced before being pulled for the extra skater.
Sullivan said No. 31's teammates need to give him more offensive backing.
"I think he just quietly makes timely save after timely save for us," the coach said. "I think he's one of the elite goaltenders in the league … We don't always give him the goal support that he probably deserves."
An anthem to remember
There aren't a lot of things that can bring Rangers and Islanders together. But the playing of the National Anthem before Saturday's game was one.
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Dominick Critelli, a 104-year-old World War II veteran, performed the anthem on the saxophone before the two local rivals faced off.
It was a site no one in the sellout crowd of 17,255 will forget anytime soon.
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