Kyle Palmieri scored the tiebreaking goal with 2:44 remaining in the third period, lifting the visiting New York Islanders to a 2-1 victory over the rival New York Rangers on Thursday.
After Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren was elbowed in the face by Zdeno Chara, the Islanders moved the puck up the right side. Ryan Pulock made a pass from near the right circle, Palmieri gained possession of the bouncing puck in front of the crease, batted it out of mid-air and lifted it over goalie Igor Shesterkin.
Palmieri’s 11th goal lifted the Islanders to the fourth win in five games (4-0-1) and capped a physical affair that saw both teams produce several chances and get timely saves from their goaltenders.
Anders Lee also scored for the sixth straight game as the Islanders claimed the makeup of a game originally scheduled for Nov. 28 that was pushed back due to the Islanders’ COVID-19 outbreak. The postponement occurred when the Islanders were in the midst of an 11-game winless skid.
Chris Kreider joined Toronto’s Auston Matthews as the second player to reach 40 goals this season when he scored his league-leading 21st power-play goal. However, the Rangers dropped to 10-5-1 in their past 16 contests.
Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin produced a spectacular 29-save effort, with 12 of his stops coming in the opening period. He also prevented the game from reaching overtime when he made a point-blank save on Mika Zibanejad’s wrist shot with two seconds remaining.
Sorokin highlighted his showing with a save on Artemi Panarin with 12:32 remaining. After Lee collided with teammate Brock Nelson in the defensive zone, the Rangers gained a two-on-one, but Sorokin dove to his right and used his stick to deny Panarin.
Shesterkin finished with 26 saves and fell to 1-5-1 in seven career games against the Islanders.
Lee opened the scoring 49 seconds into the second period. He gained enough separation from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba in the high slot and lifted the puck by Shesterkin after getting a pass from Mathew Barzal in the waning seconds of a power play.
Kreider tied the game with 6:22 remaining in the second. He sped past Josh Bailey, streaked down the right side, got a pass from Alexis Lafreniere and had enough time to lift an off-balance wrist shot over Sorokin’s stick from the right faceoff circle.
–Field Level Media