ELMONT, N.Y. — Brett Berard and the New York Rangers had been here before. They’ve held leads of varying degrees, taken their foot off the pedal, and watched games slip away in front of them.
It’s one of the reasons why the club is on track to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2021, following a three-year stretch that included two trips to the Conference Final and a Presidents’ Trophy. It looked like it could happen again Thursday night on Long Island, as they extended their second-period lead to 5–0, in complete control.
Time and time again this season, the Rangers have unraveled defensively over the stretch of games, often blowing leads in the process. On Thursday, they allowed the Islanders, one of the NHL’s worst offensive teams, 20 shots on Igor Shesterkin in the middle frame.
But only one of those got through Shesterkin, who made 44 saves. Then, the Blueshirts came out firing in the third period to put the game away. They matched their first-period output with another four goals en route to a 9–2 rout, which solidified their first season sweep of the Islanders in 20 years.
“When you take your foot off for a second like we did in the second,” said Berard, “we kind of got leaned on. A big adjustment for us going into the third was to go full throttle.”
Rangers roll over Islanders 9-2 as playoff elimination bears down on both teams
Berard scored twice and played an instrumental part in the Rangers’ four-goal third-period deluge. His fifth and sixth goals of the season caused the Islanders to change their goalie twice, replacing the struggling Marcus Högberg with Tristan Lennox, and back again.
Berard began play that led to his first of the evening in his own end, as he chipped the puck out of the Rangers’ zone, past a pinching Adam Pelech to Sam Carrick. At the other end, a spinning Matt Rempe found Berard open in front of the net. His in-tight backhand extended the Rangers’ lead to 6–1 and chased Högberg.
After Hudson Fasching cut the Rangers’ lead to four, Berard struck again. He took a lead pass from Carrick, and on a two-on-one with Rempe, he shot five-hole, wisely fooling the Islanders’ rookie netminder for the Rangers’ seventh of the evening. Lennox’s NHL debut then came to a quick end after he faced just two shots.
“I love his game,” Will Cuylle said about Berard. “When he first came up, I was playing on his line, and I thought he was really good. Plays fast, a lot of passion, effort. Doesn’t try to do too much. I feel like he’s one of the hardest working guys out there. We like to have guys like that on our team.”
“It’s nice to see a guy like Brett,” said head coach Peter Laviolette. “He was really good. He came in the lineup last night. He was really noticeable for us. He comes back again, has a big game.”
‘It’s in other teams’ hands now’
Thursday’s win had elements of last season’s Rangers. Shesterkin played at a Vezina level, while the club’s stars and depth forwards took care of the rest.
“Ever since the first shift, we’re kind of clicking there,” said Berard. “Shesty made a couple of huge saves there to keep us in it early.”
“Start was really good,” said Laviolette. “Just good defensively and on the attack, we’re probably starting games a lot better.”
The Rangers understand that their playoff hopes for this season are all but finished. Barring an inconceivable collapse by the Montreal Canadiens, who are firmly in the driver’s seat of the second Wild Card spot with a six-point lead on the Rangers and a game in hand, New York will finish below the cut line.
“We’re still in it,” said Berard. “It’s in other teams’ hands now, but we still got to do our part. It doesn’t happen if we don’t win.”
The Rangers’ historic offensive outburst
From their stars to their depth forwards, it seemed like everyone on the Rangers made an impact. Ten different Rangers finished with multiple points — the first time that’s happened since Oct. 24, 1979. And each Rangers skater was at least a plus-1.
The Cuylle–J.T. Miller–Mika Zibanejad line set the tone early, scoring the first two goals in the first period — the first of which resulted from a between-the-legs drop pass from Cuylle to Miller as the Rangers entered the zone. Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck combined for the next two.
“Well, nine goals is a lot,” said Cuylle. “Good defense led to good offense. Just breaking pucks out and lots of chances off the rush.”
Six of the Rangers’ nine goals came off the rush, as the club’s forwards moved the puck well, often to the outside.
The offensive outburst just “felt good,” Cuylle added, especially in the second half of a back-to-back following an 8–5 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, when the Rangers surrendered six goals in the third period.
Making every win count
Shesterkin was excellent Thursday. He held the Islanders at bay with a number of key saves, and got some help from his posts.
“Defensemen did a great job in front of me,” he said about holding off the Islanders’ second-period pressure. “I didn’t have too much screens today, so most of the shots was outside of the high danger zone.”
The heavy Rangers crowd at UBS Arena chanted his name — “Igor! Igor” — throughout the night, as they often do at Madison Square Garden during home games. Shesterkin said the atmosphere was amazing and that the players appreciated the support.
That support has been undeniably difficult to muster over the course of a turbulent campaign, one that the Rangers are likely relieved to see the end of. And with their final three games coming against playoff-bound teams — the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning — perhaps the moral victories are all the club has left to offer this year.
Maybe those little wins are what everyone needs.
“We play for our families, for our fans right now,” said Shesterkin. “We need to make them a little bit happy.”
