Brodzinski scores twice, Rangers ease past Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Jonny Brodzinski scored twice in the first period and also had an assist for the New York Rangers in a 5-1 win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Tuesday.

Urho Vaakanainen had a goal and two assists, and J.T. Miller and Matt Rempe scored for the Rangers (29-25-4), who have won two straight and three of four. Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves.

“It was a really good first period. It was fast, it was competitive, and I thought we did a lot of good things,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “The third period was kind of tough when you're just defending and sitting back a little bit. They generated some chances, but most of their stuff was from the outside in the third. But it was just a really good start, a really complete game by everybody. All the lines chipped in. ... It meant a lot in the standings.”

Alexander Romanov scored for the Islanders (25-25-7), who have lost four straight games. Ilya Sorokin allowed five goals on 11 shots before being replaced at the start of the third period by Jakub Skarek, who stopped all seven shots he faced.

“We had a really good start. We had a good jump, we had a couple of good looks,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “I think, and the guys did mention it, that we could have done maybe a little bit better job getting in front of [Shesterkin] and take his eyes away from the puck. I mean, that would be the only thing I would say. But I thought we played a good game. I mean, we had a good jump. We had our chances.”

Vaakanainen gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 6:22 of the first period. He scored with a shot from the top of the right circle that deflected in off Islanders defenseman Scott Perunovich.

“It was just good movement in the offensive zone,” Vaakanainen said. “[There were] two guys at the net. I saw a lane, shot it, and it went in. ... I saw their forward just stop there. I knew I had time.”

Romanov tied it 1-1 at 8:19 with a point shot that deflected in off the stick of Rangers defenseman Adam Fox in the low slot.

Brodzinski responded to put the Rangers back in front 2-1 at 12:39. He scored with a one-timer from the top of the right circle through a screen by Rempe that caught Sorokin moving the other way.

Brodzinski then pushed the lead to 3-1 at 19:12 of the first. He took a short pass from Fox at the blue line, turned, and scored glove side with a wrist shot through a screen.

“It was a ton of fun,” Brodzinski said. “It kind of felt like we were back in Hartford (of the American Hockey League) for a little bit, especially with [Brennan] Othmann and Rempe on my wings. But yeah, it's just a ton of fun. We pretty much played in the offensive zone the entire night. So yeah, it was great.”

J.T. Miller made it 4-1 at 11:21 of the second period. Mika Zibanejad sent a pass out from below the goal line to Miller, who was left all alone at the edge of the left circle.

Rempe extended it to 5-1 at 16:30, redirecting Brodzinski's point shot under Sorokin’s glove for his second goal of the season.

“You have to turn the page,” Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “Obviously, there's moments where we did a lot of good things and could have come away with a goal here and there, and then one’s in the back of our net. So, at this point, the next game is huge. We're kind of fighting for our life here."

Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller left the game with a lower-body injury at 6:19 of the second period. Fox left the game at 3:16 of the third period with an upper-body injury.

Laviolette said postgame that both Fox and Miller were still being evaluated.

"I thought that [the defensemen] were good defensively, especially going down short like that," Laviolette said. "I thought they played a pretty good game, the defensemen."

NOTES: It was the first three-point NHL game for both Brodzinski and Vaakanainen. ... J.T. Miller extended his point streak to three games (three goals, two assists). ... Zibanejad extended his point streak to four games (two goals, three assists).