The Rangers literally reversed the script.
After being defeated at the opening of the season two nights earlier against the Islanders, the Rangers turned and returned, setting up their own 5-0 performance against Barry Trotz and company at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
The Rangers – coming from a 4-0 defeat in which coach David Quinn questioned his effort – finally appeared for the 2020-21 season. Even with the second highest paid defender, Tony DeAngelo, in street attire because of an undisciplined unsportsmanlike conduct penalty applied in the first game, Rangers looked like the team that left the coaching staff excited about their focus on the training ground.
The effort was there. The smart passes were there. The Rangers were there.
With two goals from Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin, the Rangers 1-1 had the necessary momentum on the front lines. Alexandar Georgiev recorded his fifth shutout of his career, with 23 saves in victory.
The Islanders received an omen that their night would not be a good one when starting goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov got a puck in his throat in the warm-up and had to leave the ice, playing Russian prodigy Ilya Sorokin on his NHL debut without notice.
The Rangers stacked the shots early, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring, stealing the disc from Islanders defender Noah Dobson, he found Buchnevich in the 2-on-1 rush at 2:12.
The Islanders’ defense suffered a blow shortly after, when Ryan Pulock absorbed a shot from Jacob Trouba in the side of the head and immediately headed for the locker room. But Pulock returned at the start of the second period.
Brendan Smith then intercepted a pass and hit a squeaky Panarin, which cut Sorokin on the right side to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead at 13:46, effectively leaving behind the collapse of three goals in the first period. Thursday’s defeat.
In the second period, the Islanders were hit by several penalties, including two at Mathew Barzal. After Scott Mayfield got involved with a line judge, Buchnevich picked up the puck and fired a high angle shot from the left to make the game 3-0 at the start of the second.
The Phillip Di Giuseppe-Filip Chytil-Kaapo Kakko line then forced a turn at the end of the period, with Kakko finishing on a stopwatch at 15:24 of the second.
The Islanders played better in the third period, keeping time in the Rangers zone and hitting the post two times in the final two minutes, but Rangers dominated the game.
After Ross Johnston was penalized for fighting Ryan Lindgren and Trouba, Panarin cleaned up the power play trash to close the scoring.