The New York Rangers haven’t hit the road to face the New York Islanders since Apr. 10, when Rangers fans filled UBS Arena and roared as their team rolled to a lopsided win that called into question the Islanders’ short- and long-term future.
The Islanders are hoping to show their rivals how far they’ve come since then on Saturday night, when they host the Rangers as both teams resume play following the holiday break in Elmont, N.Y.
Both squads went into the break with comeback wins over Metropolitan Division rivals on Tuesday night, when the host Islanders edged the New Jersey Devils 2-1 and the visiting Rangers rode a five-goal third period to a 7-3 victory over the Washington Capitals.
Adam Pelech scored the game-winning goal with 1:15 left in the third to lift the Islanders to another resourceful win. They are 8-6-2 since Nov. 20, when defenseman Alexander Romanov suffered a season-ending right shoulder injury in a 5-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Another key player, right winger Kyle Palmieri, was lost for the season with a left knee injury eight days later.
The Islanders have scored three goals or fewer in 13 of their last 16 games — including their last five without leading scorer Bo Horvat, who is sidelined with a left ankle injury. Horvat is expected to return Saturday along with goalie Ilya Sorokin, who sat out Tuesday with what the club described as “a small nagging issue.”
Despite the spate of injuries, the Islanders are in third place in the Metropolitan Division and just three points behind the Carolina Hurricanes and Detroit Red Wings, who share the Eastern Conference lead with 47 points.
Such a position was hard to envision when the Islanders lost to the Rangers 9-2 on Apr. 10, seven days before the Islanders concluded a season in which they missed the playoffs by nine points.
But Mathieu Darche, who replaced Lou Lamoriello as president of hockey operations, has infused the veteran Islanders with young talent such as No. 1 overall draft pick Matthew Schaefer as well as left winger Emil Heineman, who has 12 goals and six assists.
“There’s a lot to see, a lot of excitement from our team,” Islanders center and captain Anders Lee said. “We’ve got a lot of young talent, some new blood and we’re playing good hockey.”
The Rangers have also been undermanned and searching for offense following a reset last spring, when they missed the playoffs by six points after winning the Presidents Trophy and advancing to the Eastern Conference finals in 2023-24. Peter Laviolette was fired after two seasons and replaced by Mike Sullivan, who directed the Pittsburgh Penguins to a pair of Stanley Cups during his decade in the Steel City.
The Rangers also dealt away former captain Chris Kreider as well as K’Andre Miller to complete an overhaul that began last season with the trades of Jacob Trouba and Reilly Smith.
Defenseman Adam Fox, who ranks third on the team with 26 points despite missing the last 12 games with an upper body injury, is expected to return Saturday for the Rangers, who are tied for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference despite scoring just 104 goals, the second-fewest in the East.
Captain J.T Miller (upper-body injury), whose 22 points are fifth-most on the club, went on injured reserve Monday.
Still, the Rangers hope the third-period outburst is a sign of things to come offensively. Prior to Tuesday, the Rangers had scored more than five goals in a game just four times in their first 41 contests.
“I was happy for the players,” Sullivan said. “They’ve worked so hard to try to generate more offense. It’s nice to see the puck go in the net for them.”
–Field Level Media
