NEW YORK — The New York Rangers rallied for a 5-3 win over the crosstown rival Islanders on Thursday night, with Kaapo Kakko scoring the game-tying goal with 2:47 remaining.
The Rangers were led by Barclay Goodrow’s goal and two assists, Julien Gauthier’s goal and two assists, and Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck’s goals. Igor Shesterkin made 15 saves to improve to 2-7-1 in 10 career games against the Islanders.
The Islanders lost for the fifth time in six games, as Mathew Barzal and Alexander Romanov each had a goal and an assist, and Anders Lee also scored. Ilya Sorokin finished with 29 saves.
The Rangers tied the game 3-3 at 3:00 of the third period when Gauthier’s shot from the left point deflected off Goodrow in front and past Sorokin. It was Goodrow’s eighth of the season.
With 11:17 remaining, Mika Zibanejad’s one-timer hit off a goalpost and landed under Sorokin, and the Islanders’ Jean-Gabriel Pageau hit a goalpost behind Shesterkin nearly four minutes later.
Kakko gave the Rangers their first lead when he deposited a pass from K’Andre Miller from the left corner past Sorokin from the right side for his ninth goal of the season and fifth in eight games.
Trocheck added an empty-netter with 1:32 left to seal the win as the Rangers bounced back from a 3-2 loss at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, snapping a season-high seven-game win streak.
At 2:39 of the second period, Barzal put the Islanders up 2-1. After Josh Bailey knocked the puck away from Kakko near centre ice, Barzal picked up the loose puck and sped off on a breakaway, skated in on Shesterkin, got the goalie to go down, and lifted a backhander over him from the left side for his fifth of the season.
Gauthier tied it at 5:30 with a backhander on a breakaway after the Islanders turned the puck over at the other end. Gauthier’s fifth.
At 8:45, Romanov gave the Islanders their third lead of the night with a slap shot from the left point off a drop pass from Barzal. It came on the Islanders’ ninth shot of the game and was the 22-year-old Russian defenseman’s first goal of the season since being acquired from Montreal on July 7.
With 3:14 remaining in the middle period, Sorokin made a nice sliding pad stop on a short-handed breakaway by Goodrow to keep the Islanders’ lead.
With 7:12 left in the first period, Lee’s centering pass from the goal line on the right side deflected off the left skate of Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren in front and past Shesterkin. Lee’s 11th of the season and third in seven games.
Panarin tied it on a Rangers power play with a one-timer from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Mika Zibanejad inside the left post with 2:46 left in the first. It was Panarin’s ninth.
SURGING
Panarin has three goals and 16 points in his last 11 games… Adam Fox assisted on Panarin’s first-period goal, giving him 28 assists and 35 points on the season. He ranks third among NHL defensemen in assists, trailing only Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey (32) and San Jose’s Erik Karlsson (31). (30).
SIDELINED ISLANDERS C Casey Cizikas left the game midway through the second period and did not return.
UP NEXT: The Islanders host Florida on Friday night to begin a three-game homestand.
Rangers: The Rangers finish a two-game homestand against Washington on Tuesday night.
