EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — After overturning a late two-goal deficit, Artemi Panarin scored the game-winning overtime goal 10 seconds into the extra period to lift the New York Rangers to an improbable 6-5 victory over the New York Islanders in the 2024 Stadium Series on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.
“This was awesome,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was a perfect night. The ice was great, the weather was great, two teams played hard. They had their moments, we had our moments… It was an unbelievable night.”
The Rangers (36-16-3) were trailing 5-3 inside five minutes to go in regulation, but forced overtime by scoring twice in 2:39 through power-play goals by Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad — the tying tally coming with 1:29 to go in regulation.
Panarin scored the game-winner by intercepting a Noah Dobson pass in the Islanders’ zone and deking past goalie Ilya Sorokin and the sliding defenseman, who dislodged the net in the process. While the net was off the moorings before the puck crossed the goal line, it was still deemed a good goal.
“Honestly, I don’t remember that goal very well at this point because I got flooded with a wave of emotions and excitement,” Panarin said after the game. “But I’m 80% sure the puck crossed the line and it definitely was a goal.”
The Islanders scored three goals in a 3:14 span in the first period on their way to building a 4-1 lead that initially seemed insurmountable for the Rangers. Yet the Blueshirts scored twice in the second period to cut the deficit to within one heading into the final frame.
Alexander Romanov gave the Islanders a two-goal cushion early in the third, but two late penalties on Mathew Barzal and Scott Mayfield allowed the Rangers to get right back into it.
“Our power-play guys at the end of the game in the biggest of moments and the biggest of circumstances, they really delivered,” Laviolette said. “There was lots of keys in that game, but that had to happen at the end. They had to work, they had to fight, they had to scratch.”
Each member of the Islanders’ first line, Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, and Anders Lee scored while Noah Dobson recorded three assists. Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves in the loss against his good friend in Igor Shesterkin, who turned away 36 of 41 shots.
Vincent Trocheck also scored twice for the Rangers.
It’s a sizable missed opportunity for two points for the Islanders (22-18-14), who snapped a two-game losing streak and entered Sunday on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
The Rangers scored on their first shot of the day when Erik Gustafsson’s wrister from atop the left circle soared over the shoulder of Sorokin 1:28 into the game, but the Islanders took over from there.
They scored three goals in just 3:14 to take an early, commanding lead all while holding the Rangers to without a shot for more than six minutes.
Brock Nelson put the Islanders on the board just 2:52 after Gustafsson’s opener, sniping a wrist shot over the glove of Shesterkin from the right circle.
With the two teams playing at 4-on-4 following penalties by Scott Mayfield and Alexis Lafreniere, Bo Horvat put the Islanders in front with a wrist shot that snuck through the blocker-side arm of Shesterkin.
The Rangers didn’t have a moment to catch their breath as the Islanders struck again just 16 seconds later on the power play when Barzal chipped a Dobson pass from close range over Shesterkin’s glove for his 16th goal of the season.
For Dobson, it was his second assist of the day and his 50th on the season, making him just the fourth defenseman in franchise history to record 50 or more helpers in a single year.
Lee gave the Islanders a three-goal lead on the power play just 1:03 into the second period when he re-directed a Pierre Engvall shot home — capping off an impressive display from New York’s first line in which each player recorded a goal.
“As a coach, I felt good about our game,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. “We did a lot of good things and when I look at the 5-on-5 play, that’s the hockey we want to play… We played them with a good pace, we competed well, we had our chances.”
Lee, however, opened the door for a Rangers comeback when he was called for a trip shortly after his tally. The Blueshirts cashed in on the man advantage with Artemi Panarin firing a wrister off the stick of Trocheck and in just 4:23 after the Islanders’ tally.
Trocheck got his second with 1:36 to go in the second off a scramble in front when he popped a tough-angled loose puck over the shoulder of Sorokin.
Alex Romanov re-opened a two-goal advantage for the Islanders to stymie Rangers momentum, tipping home a Dobson feed from the right point at the left post 1:53 into the third period.
The Islanders’ league-worst penalty kill managed to get through a Mayfield trip midway through the frame, but further stress on themselves when Barzal took a penalty during 4-on-4 play with 5:44 to go, giving the Rangers a 4-on-3 man advantage for 1:24.
“My penalty changed it a bit,” Barzal said. “We were up by two and had the game under control… I thought it was a little weak.”
The Ranger pulled Shesterkin to make it a 5-on-3 advantage and after the coinciding Trochek and Romanov penalties expired, they pulled within one on a 6-on-4 advantage — Kreider tipping a shot from the point by Panarin with four minutes to go.
“We were down by two goals and if you do the math, if you’re not successful.. you’ve got 3:50 and you’ll have used the guys you wanted to,” Laviolette said of his decision to pull Shesterkin early. “That gave us a much better opportunity to score a goal.”
Mayfield took his third penalty of the day with 2:28 left in regulation to mount even more pressure on the penalty kill.
After failing to clear the zone, Zibanejad made the Islanders pay, firing a one-timer home with 1:29 to go in regulation to force overtime.
