The New York Rangers opened the 2020-21 season in the losing streak after a 4-0 loss to the New York Islanders. The Islanders jumped the Rangers early and often, and the Rangers were simply never able to recover. Igor Shesterkin received the nod from David Quinn and, despite a difficult start, deflected 29 of the 33 shots he faced throughout the night.
1st period
Brock Nelson (1) – Anthony Beauvillier (1) and Nick Leddy (1) PPG – 2:33
A quick wait call from Jack Johnson gave the Islanders a very early job on the power play, and they capitalized almost immediately. After a good movement of the puck, Anthony Beauvillier’s opening shot gave Igor Shesterkin some trouble and a rebound opened the slot high. Brock Nelson was right at the door and hit the rebound at home to give the Islanders the first advantage of the game.
Anders Lee (1) – Nick Leddy (2) – 3:52
Just over a minute after the opening goal, the Islanders added an immediate safety mark from a 2-to-1 run to the offensive zone. Four different Rangers were caught on the ice and Nick Leddy made them pay with a quick pass through the neutral zone. Anders Lee was able to take the pass, interrupted a strange man’s run and hit the puck from Shesterkin’s glove.
Mathew Barzal (1) – Cal Clutterbuck (1) – 13:31
As if things couldn’t get any worse for Rangers, Mathew Barzal extended the islands’ lead to 3-0 just about three minutes after the midpoint mark. Barzal completely burst Tony DeAngelo’s doors when he entered the offensive zone with a quick movement, and fired an instant shot just below the post. The Rangers were clearly not ready for an initial wave in this game and were badly burned as a result.
2nd period
Jordan Eberle (1) – Anders Lee (1) and Noah Dobson (1) PPG – 14:54
The Rangers’ penalty worked well at this point in the game, and Alexis Lafreniere’s penalty sent them back to the ice. Just under a minute after the start of the power game, Jordan Eberle received a favorable jump after attempting a pass to the other side of the net, and the puck deflected back to Igor Shesterkin. It looked like Anders Lee deflected the disc after several looks at the replay, so I’m sure it will be changed in boxscore.
3rd period
Without scoring goals.
The Rangers certainly had their hard work for them tonight against a team of Islanders who were two wins from the Stanley Cup final. The slow start didn’t do the Rangers any favors, as they had been chasing the game since the disc’s release. There were some encouraging chances to score, but the Rangers as a whole stayed put all night. Fortunately, this is only the first night of the sprint, so the Rangers will go over what went wrong and hopefully come back with a better effort on Saturday night.