New York Rangers’ Jonny Brodzinski (22) reacts after scoring during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders, Sunday, March 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
NEW YORK, NY — The Rangers continue to roll and did so at the expense of their crosstown rivals, taking care of the Islanders 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
Mika Zibanejad, Will Cuylle, Jonny Brodzinski, Kaapo Kakko, and Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers (45-19-4), who have won five of their last six games. Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves in the win to outduel his good friend and Islanders goalie, Ilya Sorokin, who stopped 25 shots of his own.
Both teams were on the second leg of a back-to-back, coming off afternoon games the day before Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET St. Patrick’s Day start.
“Overall it was a really good game,” Brodzinski, who scored the game-winner said. “It’s definitely a grind, especially with these earlier games… It was a good effort by us.”
The Islanders (29-23-15) got two goals from Bo Horvat to keep pace with the Rangers through the majority of the first two periods. But just 1:06 after Horvat’s second tally, Brodzinski put the Blueshirts up for good.
The Islanders have now lost four consecutive games following a six-game win streak that momentarily got them back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Their poor run of form has seen them drop back out of a postseason spot.
“I saw a team that played better than us today,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. “They managed the puck much better than we did, they were very fast on transition. I thought they had more energy than us for some reason.”
They took the lead 14:08 into the game while shorthanded. Brock Nelson forced a turnover behind the Rangers net, cycled around toward the right boards, and sent a cross-ice pass to the left circle for Horvat, who finished from a tough angle into the top-right corner of the…
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