New York Islanders vs. New York Rangers: Top takeaways from exhibition

In their last game before the postseason, both the New York Rangers and New York Islanders impressed.

Last night, the New York Islanders faced off against the New York Rangers in an exhibition game before the Qualifying Series begins on Saturday for both squads.

After a scoreless first period, a feeling out process if you will, the Islanders were able to get on the board first, ultimately taking this one by a score of 2-1.

New York Islanders Takeaways with Stefen Rosner

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With a 2-1 win over the Rangers, the Islanders snapped a seven-game losing streak (0-3-4), as Jean-Gabriel Pageau technically got his first win as a New York Islander.

All kidding aside, the Islanders looked strong in this one. The defensive structure look as good as expected, with Adam Pelech back in there on the top pairing alongside Ryan Pulock.

The Islanders did dress eight defensemen, with rookie Noah Dobson and veteran Andy Greene slotted in as the fourth pair.  The passing was crisp, despite struggling to get enough shots on Igor Shesterkin, the New York Rangers’ starting netminder in last night’s game.

The Islanders were able to generate five power-play opportunities but only managed to record four total shots. The units have been practicing a new power play structure, which allowed them to move the puck around a lot smoother, with Mathew Barzal using his speed and quickness to draw the opposition, and then drop pass it to a defenseman hovering near the blue line. But the Rangers did a great job in taking away the shooting lanes throughout their penalty kill, as well as during the entirety of the hockey game.

Forward Anthony Beauvillier was my player of the games scoring the opening goal, a quick short-side shot to beat Shesterkin on an odd-man rush. But besides the goal, Beau registered four shots on net (team-high) and was moving his feet throughout the entirety of the game, drawing a few penalties.

Ross Johnston was another standout in this game, as despite finding himself in the penalty box in the second period, he looked like a man on a mission. Head coach Barry Trotz needs to decide who will slot in alongside Pageau and Derick Brassard on the third line. And by giving Johnston the nod over Leo Komarov, Tom Kuhnhackl, and Michael Dal Colle in last night’s game, Trotz needed to see a spark.

And we saw that. He picked up a secondary assist on the Devon Toews’ goal, which was the game-winner.

https://twitter.com/NHLonNBCSports/status/1288662656761704448

He blocked a shot and really skated well in the 9:26 of ice time. He should be in there when the puck drops on Saturday.

Watching this game, I was honing in on three things: How would Pelech look after his Achilles injury? How would the goaltenders look in regards to tracking the puck? And how would the fourth line of Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas, and Cal Clutterbuck, which had been separated due to injuries throughout the majority of the season, look?

Pelech did not miss a beat, using his long stick to not just break up plays, but also using it to push the Rangers’ forwards to the outside. On the penalty kill, his long stick came in to play yet again, limiting the seventh-best power play in the league (22.9%) from doing much. Statistically, he registered a block and a hit in 15:22 of ice time (second-among Isles defenseman).

Out of the gate, Isles starting netminder Semyon Varlamov seemed a little antsy, as expected. For goaltenders, nothing in practice gets you mentally ready for an actual game (even though it was an exhibition, but still).

But throughout the first period, we saw him start to track the puck at a much better rate, controlling his rebounds. And in the second period, Varly came up clutch, robbing Rangers’ forward Jesper Fast, not once, but twice, via a leg extension and then a beautiful, old-fashioned pad stack.

Heading into this game, head coach Barry Trotz said he was close to deciding who would get the nod against the Florida Panthers. And after seeing the performance by Varlamov, giving him two periods of work, all indications point to him. He was able to stop 19 of 19 before being pulled for Thomas Greiss.

Greiss, who had a terrible second half of the season, looked structurally strong in this one. He was able to stop seven of eight shots in his twenty minutes of work. The lone goal he allowed was not on him, stopping Jesper Fast on a semi-breakaway as his defenseman got caught puck -watching as Filip Chytil buried the rebound.

Both should be ready to see action in the Qualifying Rounds.

Moving on to the best fourth line in hockey. It seemed that the injury woes due to skate cuts are well in the past. These three players seem to be in prime form, creating momentum, which was truly missed in their absence.

Their forecheck was impeccable, as this was the only line for the Islanders that was able to cycle the offensive zone.  The other thing that truly stood out was their board protection.

What I mean by this is that players are taught when in doubt, boards, and out. But this fourth line was able to read this plan and pin themselves against the boards, forcing the Rangers to look to the center of the ice.

Even then, this line was able to read that as well, picking off a few passes and generating scoring opportunities.

Final Thoughts

The moral of the story after this exhibition game is the fact that the Islanders were able to make the most of their opportunities. Against the Florida Panthers, a team that got shelled by the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-0 yesterday, we were able to see what the Islanders can do to have success.

Clogging the front of the net really hurt Sergei Bobrovsky’s chances at stopping pucks and if the Islanders can take a page out of that gameplan, they will be able to generate more offense and take this series.

New York Rangers Takeaways with Brendan Azoff

By no means was it the perfect games, but the Rangers could take some positives away from last night’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of the New York Islanders. Overall, the Rangers defense was solid, limiting the Islanders’ chances and filling the shot lanes. In the end, two lapses in coverage led to Islander conversions, ultimately deciding this defensive stalemate.

Let’s go through my takeaways from each period, shall we?

Period One

• Jacob Trouba, Julien Gauthier, and Pavel Buchnevich played well.
• Gauthier used his size and speed nicely, moving well with the puck on a couple of rushes into the offensive zone.
• Igor Shesterkin was not busy by any means, but was solid, holding his ground when he needed to.
• Penalties killed the Rangers flow, limiting what looked to be a promising start in the offensive zone.
• The forecheck looked strong early on, creating some turnovers that led to productive shots on goal.
• The best display of shot-blocking I have seen since the Tortorella Rangers, with everyone selling out on the penalty kill.
• We saw a brief glimpse of a Panarin/Strome/Kakko line, which looked productive.

Period Two

Fast had two great chances but could not finish after Varlamov made a huge two-pad stack save against him

• Shesterkin was pulled after allowing the Beauvilier goal, but did not get a lot of work, stopping six of seven shots.
• Again, the penalty kill looked sharp and held the fort down.
• Kaapo Kakko looked hungry, tracking the puck well and firing shots toward the net at a much higher clip. (He barely missed converting on a chance from the slot.)
• Adam Fox got caught cheating towards the boards on an Andy Greene stretch pass leading to the goal.

Period Three

• Brendan Smith’s best period in a while. Great back-check saving a goal to start the period and even better stretch pass to Fast leading to a goal.
• Lundqvist looked sharp, stopping 14 of 15 shots. Devon Toews’ shot was perfect, beating him far-side as he was sliding out.
• Di Giussepe has to grind more on the forecheck in order to benefit Kakko and Chytil.
• Rangers were really limited by the Islanders’ neutral zone trap, neglecting to chip pucks deep and electing to try and skate the puck into the offensive zone.
• Chytil’s goal was well deserved, he looked solid all game and crashed the net hard for the rebound.

Final Thoughts

I thought that Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko were the two most active Rangers all night. The two youngsters looked rested and were both quick on pucks, creating numerous scoring chances. It was a rough night for the Blueshirts on the draw, losing 62.5% of the faceoffs. Pavel Buchnevich looked very physical early on, a surprising but welcome sight for New York.

Marc Staal left the game for an undisclosed reason, but not before making a very noticeable gaffe at the end of the first period, turning the puck over with just two seconds left.

Overall, the Rangers defensive scheme under new coach Gord Murphy looked solid. There was obvious rust, but the chances to score were there. Mika Zibanejad had a shot glance off of the crossbar, while Jesper Fast found his persistence in front denied by Varlamov.

New York still created opportunities and demonstrated good chemistry amongst the lines, which are extremely positive signs heading into the qualifying round. Despite the result, the Rangers did a lot of little things well, especially defensively that will bode well for them against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Chances in a playoff series will be hard to come by, and their inability to convert against the Islanders is a bit concerning, but the series against the Hurricanes should feature a lot more open ice, a factor the Rangers should be able to take advantage of.