If tonight’s game was any indication, a playoff series between the New York Rangers and Islanders would be quite a treat. The two battled fiercely tonight, but in the end the Rangers earned a 6-5 victory in the back-and-forth contest.
John Tavares found the back of the net just 11 seconds into the contest thanks to a errant pass from Rangers goaltender Cam Talbot. The Rangers consistently battled back after that, but the Islanders still managed to maintain their lead for most of the game.
It wasn’t until 15:28 of the third period that the Rangers got their first and only lead. Kevin Klein netted the winner, but it was the difference thanks to the efforts of Derek Stepan and Martin St. Louis, who started the rally with goals less than two minutes apart earlier in the final frame.
Stepan also recorded two assists to give him a team-high three points.
Markers seemed to come in bunches for the Rangers tonight as Chris Kreider and defenseman Ryan McDonagh also found the back of the net roughly 23 seconds apart in the second period.
That was blueliner McDonagh’s second marker of the night.
This was the fourth game against the two New York teams in 2014-15 and it’s the first time that the Rangers emerged victorious. That snapped the Islanders’ four-game winning streak and extended the Rangers own winning streak to four contests. The Islanders still have a two-point edge over the Rangers in the battle for the Metropolitan Division title, but the Islanders have also played in two more contests.
The two squads will complete their regular season series on March 10.
#NYR Stats: This is the first time Rangers defensemen have had three goals in a game since 11/28/2009.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 17, 2015
With a 6-5 win at NYI, the @NYRangers have scored 5+ goals in four consecutive road games for the first time since January 1981. #NYRvsNYI
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 17, 2015