The Rangers literally flipped the text.
After they blew up in the season-opening match two nights earlier against Islanders, the Rangers turned and held him back, gathering their 5–0 performance over Barry Trutz and his teammates at Madison Square Garden Saturday night.
The Rangers – after losing 4-0 as coach David Quinn questioned their effort – finally made an appearance in the 2020-21 season. Even with the second-highest paid in self-defense Tony De Angelo, in streetwear due to an undisciplined penalty kick taken in the first match, the Rangers looked like the team that got the coaching staff flush with their focus in training camp.
The effort was there. Smart passes were there. The guards were there.
Behind goals by Pavel Buchenevich and Artemy Panarin, the Rangers got the 1-1 boost they needed from the top line. Alexander Georgiev scored his fifth elimination in his career by scoring 23 balls in the win.
The islanders received an early omen because their night would not be good when goalkeeper Simeon Varlamov took a puck into the throat in warmth and had to leave the ice, and Russian genius Ilya Sorokin threw in his first National Hockey League appearance without warning.
Rangers piled up shots early on, leaping to the top 2-0 in the first half. Mika Zipanegade opened the scoring, stole puck from defender Noah Dobson from the islanders, and found Buchenevich on a 2-on-1 dash in 2:12.
Island Residents’ defense took a hit shortly after when Ryan Bullock sucked Jacob Trouba’s shot into the side of his head and immediately headed into the locker room. But Pollock returned at the start of the second half.
Brendan Smith intercepted a pass after that and hit Panarin, who hit Sorokin on the right side to give Rangers a 2–0 lead, at 13:46, effectively putting a 3-goal first-half collapse into Thursday’s loss behind them. .
In the second period, the islanders were hit with several penalties, including two on Matthew Barzal. After Scott Mayfield got tangled with an assistant assistant, Buchenevich seized the puck and fired a powerful shot from the left point to make it 3-0 early in the second.
Then Philippe de Giuseppe-Philippe Chitil-Cabo’s streak forced Kakko into a spin later in the period, with Kakko finishing it on one timer at 15:24 of a second.
The Islanders played better in the third inning, kept time in the Rangers and fired two shots from the post in the final two minutes, but the Rangers dominated the whole time.
After Ross Johnston punishes him for fighting Ryan Lindgren and Truppa, Banarin cleans the trash in the power game to clinch the scoring.
