ELMONT, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 25: Jonny Brodzinski #22 of the New York Rangers is congratulated by his teammates after scoring his second goal of the game against the New York Islanders during the first period at UBS Arena on February 25, 2025 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images)
ELMONT, NY — The New York Rangers continued their recent dominance over the cross-town rival Islanders, going into UBS Arena on Tuesday night and romping to a 5-1 victory.
The Rangers have won six of their last seven meetings with the Islanders, and with it, buried the Elmonters further down the Eastern Conference standing.
The Blueshirts’ second-straight win keeps them in touching distance (29-25-4, 62 points) of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference while the Islanders (25-25-7, 57 points) sink to eighth in the Wild Card standings. The top two make the playoffs.
Jonny Brodzinski scored twice with one assist and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen recorded three points (1G, 2A) while goaltender Igor Shesterkin outclassed his best friend in Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin.
Shesterkin turned away 35 of 36 shots while Sorokin was beaten five times on 11 shots through two periods. He was pulled before the third for Jakub Skarek.
“We did a great job,” Shesterkin said. “A lot of huge blocked shots.”
The Rangers took just five shots in the first period, but three of them beat Sorokin, who appeared hapless against long-distance shots through traffic.
Defenseman Urho Vaakanainen’s shot from the top of the right circle made its way through heavy screens to put the Rangers on the board 6:22 into the game. Islanders blue liner Alexander Romanov tied it up just 1:57 later when his point shot tipped off Rangers defenseman Adam Fox and past Shesterkin.
Brodzinski put the Rangers ahead at the 12:39 mark of the first when a shot from between the circles deflected off Islanders defenseman Scott Perunovich before fluttering over Sorokin’s shoulder.
His wrister from the point with 47.3 seconds left in the frame was never seen by the Islanders’ netminder, whizzing over his glove to give the Blueshirts a 3-1 lead after one.
“It didn’t feel like [we should be down two goals],” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “We stuck with it. Our game was good… we were controlling the play, having some good looks. They just had some great saves and we just didn’t get the second [goal].”
Despite consistent Islanders pressure, the Rangers extended their lead at the 11:21 mark of the second period when JT Miller was left wide-open in the slot, was fed from behind the net by Mika Zibanejad, and beat Sorokin five-hole. Vaakanainen picked up his third point of the night with a secondary assist.
Matt Rempe made it 5-1 with 3:30 left in the second when he redirected a Brodzinski shot from the point under the outstretched glove of Sorokin.
“We weren’t able to get some blocks and take care of some sticks,” Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock, who was on the ice for three of the Rangers’ goals, said. “It just felt like one of those nights where pucks were going into the net that were either hitting one of us or finding a way in.”
It was the last action of the night for the Islanders’ netminder, who was replaced by Skarek at the start of the third period.
The lone negative from a dominant night for the Rangers was when Fox left the game 3:16 into the third after awkwardly falling on his left shoulder while committing a hooking penalty on Kyle MacLean.
The victors ended the night with just four defensemen as K’Andre Miller left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury.
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