The Rangers started the 2020-21 season sprint on Thursday night against the islands – and already seem to have tibia splints.
You know, that shooting pain along the tibia bone that rises when there’s a sudden increase in physical activity and muscle overload. The Rangers must have felt that stiffness, as they were ruled out 4-0 at Madison Square Garden in their first of eight meetings with the Islanders this season.
The Rangers have said they don’t want to be defined by the three abysmal losses they suffered in the Toronto bubble last season, but they certainly look a lot like the same team that was overwhelmed, overwhelmed and overwhelmed by five months.
Islanders, on the other hand, looked like a team that is ready to rely on the race for the conference finals last season.
There may have been only three rookies on the ice for the Rangers, but rookie mistakes have spread across the board. The Rangers woke up short eight times, taking three penalties in the opening 20 minutes and falling 3-0 early.
This first game is a small sample of what’s next for the Rangers. But if the first period was an indication of how this young team is facing the rest of the East, their sprint has become much tougher.
Novice netminder Igor Shesterkin was enlightened for four goals in 33 shots, one or two of which he would definitely like in his first start of the evening. Semyon Varlamov scored the third block in an Islanders jersey and the 28th of his career, removing all 24 shots he faced.
The Rangers were on the heels of the puck drop after defender Jack Johnson, in his first game with a red and blue sweater, was called to hold to put the Islanders in the early man’s advantage.
Brock Nelson started things for the Isles, burying one in the slot at 2:33 for the first goal of the season for the Islanders.
A turnover of K’Andre Miller allowed Shesterkin to dry out a little over a minute later, and the captain of the islands Anders Lee turned into a double chase for a score of 2-0. Later, Mathew Barzal made it 3-0 after waltzing around Tony DeAngelo to get Shesterkin out of the glove.
The beginner’s mistakes continued to appear, as Alexis Lafreniere played the puck while making a change and made the Rangers call too many men on the ice.
The Rangers tilted the ice in the second period and had enough time in the offensive zone, but their crowd strategy was reduced each time. Lafreniere then committed the second penalty of the night, when he was called to the hook at 14:13, which led to a Jordan Eberle power goal about 50 seconds later.