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The New York Islanders completed their back-to-back set with a second win last night, defeating the New York Rangers 4-3.
Cal Clutterbuck was out, so Nikita Soshnikov drew into the lineup and the lines were juggled. Semyon Varlamov got the start, and was coming in with a streak of four straight shutouts at Madison Square Garden.
The Islanders had a really good start, outshooting the Rangers early and then about six minutes into the frame, Kyle Palmieri buried a rebound on a power play to open the scoring. However, the Rangers did press after that and after a flurry of chances in-close later in the period, Filip Chytil took a pass from K’Andre Miller to one-time a shot past Varlamov, tying the game. The Islanders were outshot 14-12 but overall, it was a pretty decent opening period.
Only 22 seconds into the second period though, Artemi Panarin drove down the wing and found Chris Kreider with a great pass, who capitalized to put the Rangers ahead. The Rangers outplayed the Islanders after that and later in the frame, Kreider tipped a puck that got past Varlamov, but it was ruled that the puck didn’t fully cross the line. Under two minutes after that though, the Rangers extended the lead for real when Semyon Varlamov couldn’t hang onto a point shot and it dropped down to Vincent Trocheck, who backhanded it in. It was a rough second period, with the Islanders being outshot 17-6 and giving up two goals to go down 3-1.
The Islanders quickly cut the lead in half only 14 seconds into the third period though, off a shot from Adam Pelech. They continued to press as the period went along and later in the frame, Brock Nelson took a pass from Noah Dobson and one-timed a shot past Igor Shesterkin, tying the game.
Then under two minutes after tying it, Alexander Romanov threw the puck to the net and Anders Lee was able to control it and go to the backhand to beat Shesterkin and take the lead. The Rangers pressed late with the net empty but couldn’t recover, as the Islanders hung on for the win.
Once again, the Islanders fell behind after 40 minutes and once again, they managed to get back into the game in the third period to come away with a win.
It’s still a case where they didn’t put together a full 60 minutes, being outshot by a huge margin. As noted before though, battling back from multi-goal deficits wasn’t something we could ever expect last season, so it’s a major positive.
The Islanders’ improved offense is keeping up (tied for 10th in the NHL in goals per game), led by Barzal, Lee and Nelson. That said, Kyle Palmieri is also picking up the pace after a bit of a slow start. After posting just three points in his first nine games of the year, Palmieri has scored three goals and five points in his last five games.
The win marks the Islanders’ seventh victory in their last eight games. They’re now up to a 9-5-0 record and hold a .643 points percentage, which ranks fourth in the Metropolitan Division.
New York’s next game comes on Thursday, when they host the Arizona Coyotes.
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OTHER ARTICLES FROM NOVEMBER
Islanders beat Blackhawks, extend winning streak to four games
Islanders beat Blues for fifth win in a row
Islanders’ five-game winning streak ends with shutout loss to Red Wings
Islanders battle back to defeat Flames in overtime 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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