The Rangers started the 2020-21 sprint against the Islanders on Thursday evening – and they already appear to have shin splints.
You know, that shooting pain down the shin that flares up when there’s a sudden increase in physical activity and muscle strain. The Rangers must have felt that sting when they were eliminated 4-0 at Madison Square Garden in their first of eight games with the Islanders this season.
The Rangers have said they don’t want to be defined by their three terrible losses in last postseason Toronto bubble, but they certainly looked a lot like the same team that was overpowered, worked out and outwitted more than five months ago.
The Islanders, on the other hand, looked like a team ready to build on their way to the final of last season’s conference.
There may have been only three rookies on the ice for the Rangers, but the rookie fouls spanned the entire lineup. The Rangers were gritty eight times, received three penalties in the first 20 minutes and trailed 3-0 early.
This first game is a small sampling of what’s to come for the Rangers. But if the first period was an indication of how this young team is doing compared to the rest of the East, then their sprint just got a lot harder.
Rookie netminder Igor Shesterkin got four goals on 33 shots, one or two of which he would definitely want to return in his first opening night start. Semyon Varlamov recorded his third shutout in an Islanders jersey and the 28th of his career, turning aside all 24 shots he encountered.
The Rangers followed the puck drop after defender Jack Johnson, in his first game in a red and blue jersey, was called up for holding on to put the Islanders on the man advantage early.
Brock Nelson got things started for the islands, burying one out of the slot at 2:33 a.m. for the Islanders’ first goal of the season.
A turnover from K’Andre Miller left Shesterkin dry just over a minute later and Islanders captain Anders Lee converted after a two-for-one rush for a 2-0 score. Mathew Barzal later made it 3-0 after waltzing around Tony DeAngelo to snipe Shesterkin over the glove.
The rookie errors kept coming, as Alexis Lafreniere played the puck while making a change and the Rangers called for too many men on the ice.
The Rangers tilted the ice in the second period and had ample time in the attack zone, but their crowd-the-crease strategy fell short every time. Lafreniere then committed his second penalty of the evening when he was called at 2:13 PM, leading to a power play goal from Jordan Eberle about 50 seconds later.