The Rangers won their second straight, defeating the Islanders 5-2 in a Sunday matinee at MSG to improver to 8-2-1 on season. Defensively, the Blueshirts were slightly better, though Igor Shesterkin still had to be brilliant during the contest. Special teams were a major difference maker once again in the win for the home team. The Rangers are now off until Thursday when they face Buffalo at home.

Game recap:






Lines:
Panarin-Zibanejad-Lafrenière
Kreider-Chytil-Kakko
Cuylle-Trocheck-Smith
Edström-Carrick-Vesey

Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Jones-Schneider

Shesterkin
Quick

Mancini, Brodzinski were the healthy scratches.

A few thoughts:
1) Game 1 of the revamped forward lineswas a mild success. Not sure any massive takeaways can come from the win. Some good, some bad, though the coaching staff likely saw enough signs to maintain their trios for at least another game.

The Rangers played to an even 2-2 score in 5v5 situations while being out-chanced, 30-20, according to Natural Stat Trick. Both Igor and Ilya Sorokin were in their game, as each made spectacular saves throughout. The Blueshirts made Sorokin make a heavier volume of Grade A stops to keep the score within reach, which was a positive.

As Vince Mercogliano noted, none of Mika Zibanejad's three assists came at 5v5, but he finished with three shots on goal, two high-danger scoring chances and a plus-two rating in his first game playing with Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière. They failed to score as a line (Panarin's tallies came on the PP and into an empty net) but produced the best statistical results of the four new forward trios. As you will see below, none of the units really stood out dramatically. Each had moments, including Reilly Smith’s forecheck and takeaway that led to Vincent Trocheck’s 200th career goal, but as a whole, none were dominant.

Panarin-Zibanejad-Lafrenière – 11:46 TOI; 0-0 goals; 10-13 attempts; 9-5 shots; 5-2 HD chances

Will Cuylle-Trocheck-Smith – 11:00 TOI; 1-1 goals; 7-16 attempts; 4-11 SOG; 3-3 HDCF

Chris Kreider-Filip Chytil-Kaapo Kakko – 9:13 TOI; 0-0 goals; 10-7 attempts; 5-4 SOG; 1-1 HDCF

Adam Edström-Sam Carrick-Jimmy Vesey – 7:10 TOI; 0-0 goals; 6-7 attempts; 3-4 SOG; 1-2 HDCF

2) Defensively, each pairing had their moments and each one had their struggles. I thought Jacob Trouba might have been the best overall blueliner in the win. That said, none in my opinion were elite in the victory.

3) Shesterkincontinues to excel. We are running out of superlatives for Igor. Shesterkin made 35 saves in the win, which is a slight decline in the volume he has faced recently. The best way to describe just how good he had been is that when he gives up a goal, we are all kind of surprised.

4) Special teams: As Mercogliano noted, the Rangers entered Sunday tied for first in the NHL with a 91.2% success rate on the PK, then went 5-for-5 to boost that percentage up to 92.3% and grab sole possession of the No. 1 spot. The first one set the tone for the afternoon, with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad producing their second shorthanded goal of the season. Both players made great reads to first deflect the puck, then create a giveaway, which led to the 2-on-1 and goal.

The power play has been good but not yet elite. Scary to say for a unit that went 1-for-3 yesterday and has a 28.1 percent success rate, good for sixth in the league. We all know they can be even better. If Zib starts to shoot more of the second unit finds their form, which is feasible, based on the forward talent, then a good PP could explode.

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