EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Brock Nelson perfectly summed up the feeling in the New York Giants’ locker room after the New York Islanders blew a three-goal lead at MetLife Stadium and lost 6-5 in overtime to the New York Rangers in the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on Sunday.
“That one hurts,” the Islanders center said.
The Islanders seemed to be in prime shape to cross the Hudson and East Rivers with two points after defenseman Alexander Romanov gave them a 5-3 lead at 1:53 of the third period. But center Mathew Barzal and defenseman Scott Mayfield took penalties 3:16 apart late, and Rangers forwards Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad each capitalized on the power play with goalie Igor Shesterkin pulled for an extra attacker to tie the game 5-5.
Zibanejad tied it with 1:29 left in the third, and Artemi Panarin won it for the Rangers just 10 seconds into overtime.
It was the 20th time this season the Islanders (22-18-14) have played beyond regulation; they are 5-10 in overtime and 1-4 in shootouts. Those lost extra points have them trailing the Detroit Red Wings by four for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
“We know where we stand,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “It’s all available, it’s all right there. You hear it every year, but all we can really do is control ourselves and the games we play.
“For us, we’ve done well in one area the one night, and then the next night it’s not there. So, putting it together consistently I think has probably been our biggest Achilles heel. Like, we’ll have great nights in the [defensive] zone and average in the [offensive] zone, and then that flips and it doesn’t result in the consistent wins that I think we’re looking for."
The Islanders showed resolve early in the game after Rangers defenseman Erik Gustafsson made it 1-0 at 1:28 of the first period. They outshot the Rangers 18-7 and took a 3-1 lead into the intermission. Lee made it 4-1 with a power-play goal at 1:03 of the second period.
But Lee then took a slashing penalty at 4:19, allowing Vincent Trocheck to score the first of his two goals at 5:26 to make it 4-2. Trocheck cut it to 4-3 at 18:24.
The Islanders gave the Rangers five power plays Sunday and allowed three goals. They are 3-3-3 since Patrick Roy replaced Lane Lambert as coach Jan. 20.
“As a coach, I feel good about our game,” Roy said. “Yes, those penalties at the end hurt us, but we did a lot of good things. When I look at the 5-on-5, that’s the hockey we want to play, and I thought we had a very good game.
“We played them with a good pace. We competed well, we had our chances. [Shesterkin] made a great save on Nelson midway through the third period. … To me, it’s a very positive game for us. Calls didn’t go our way, and they scored on those.”
The Islanders have 28 games remaining in the regular season. They’re hardly out of the mix for a playoff berth, but they know they can’t continue to allow points to slip away the way they did in their first game against the Rangers since Dec. 22, 2022.
And there’s little time to dwell; the Islanders go back indoors to face the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, MSGSN, SNW, SNO, SNE, SN1, TVAS).
When asked how they can respond to such a crushing defeat, Nelson took a deep breath, then admitted it won’t be easy.
“This one feels like it’s going to take a little bit right now, just given the circumstances of the day and the game and environment,” Nelson said. “Take a little bit of time now to kind of just reflect and finish this day off. Review tomorrow and think about some areas where we can kind of tidy up.
“Right now for us, the next game is the biggest game of the year. So, we’ve got to get right back to it, and we’ve got to find a way to win and string together a few.”
