Jonny Brodzinski led an impressive effort by the fourth line by posting his first career two-goal game Tuesday night for the visiting New York Rangers, who damaged the New York Islanders’ playoff hopes with a 5-1 win in Elmont, N.Y.
Brodzinski, a center, entered Tuesday with 19 goals in 184 career games.
Fourth-line winger Matt Rempe scored a rare goal late in the second while third-line defenseman Urho Vaakanainen opened the scoring in the first for the Rangers, who are two points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
J.T. Miller also had a goal in the second for the Rangers, who won despite being outshot 37-18. They have 10 goals on just 34 shots in their last two games, both wins.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves.
Alexander Romanov scored in the first for the Islanders, who have lost four straight (0-4-0) to fall seven points behind in the race for the final wild card. Goalie Ilya Sorokin stopped five of 11 shots before being pulled to start the third for Jakub Skarek, who recorded seven saves.
An Islanders turnover led to Vaakanainen’s goal 6:22 into the first. Casey Cizikas’ pass along the boards was picked off by Reilly Smith, who skated to the top of the right face-off circle before passing to Vaakanainen, whose shot sailed past Sorokin as he was screened by teammates Cizikas and Scott Perunovich as well as the Rangers’ Sam Carrick and Jimmy Vesey.
Romanov tied the score just 1:57 later when his shot from the blue line sailed under the stick arm of Shesterkin, who had four players lined up in front of him.
Brodzinski put the Rangers ahead for good with 7:21 left when his shot from the edge of the right face-off circle went under the legs of Rempe, who was jostling for position with Ryan Pulock, and into the right corner of the net.
The center capped his milestone two-goal game with 47 seconds left in the period when his shot from the blue line went under Sorokin’s glove as he was screened by Perunovich and Rangers left winger Brennan Othmann.
Mika Zibanejad, stationed behind the net, fed a wide-open Miller in the slot before the center extended the Rangers’ lead to 4-1 at the 11:21 mark of the second. Rempe, usually relied upon as an enforcer, collected his third goal in 40 career games when he redirected a shot by Brodzinski with 3:30 left.
–Field Level Media
