Winners, losers from Rangers’ 4-0 shutout win against Islanders

It sems to begin with Miller every game since he arrived in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 31. He had another two-point night Monday, assisting on the game’s first goal and then burying the Islanders, scoring the backbreaking goal off a turnover early in the third period. Make it six multi-goal games in 11 games with the Rangers, with seven goals and seven assists in that span and now a six-game point streak, as well.

Islanders coach Patrick Roy had quite the pained look watching his team’s abysmal power play Monday, though he should be used to it by now. The Islanders have the worst power play in the NHL (11.3 percent), scoring only 11 times in 60 games this season. They were 0-for-3 against the Rangers, hardly generated any good looks and allowed a crushing short-handed goal with under a minute to play in the second period. Yeesh.

When Borgen wasn’t blocking shots and manhandling Islanders forwards at one end of the ice, the Rangers defenseman was scoring a massive short-handed goal at the other. It was a complete body of work for Borgen, who logged nearly 20 minutes TOI. The highlight was when he snapped a quick shot bar down for his fourth goal of the season off a short-handed rush to make it 2-0 with 44.9 seconds to play in the first period.

Sure, the Rangers may laugh about it now because they killed off each penalty and even scored a short-handed goal, but their penchant for taking too many men on the ice minor penalties is getting old fast. Twice the Rangers were penalized for such an infraction Monday (including an inexplicable decision by Vincent Trocheck to join the party when no Rangers player was close to coming off the ice); and they now have more bench minors than any team in the NHL this season. They got away with it (twice) against the woeful Islanders. But that lack of discipline will cost them in a big game against a better opponent at some point.

The Rangers really defended well in five-man units against the Islanders, one of their best defensive showings of the season. And unlike in their shutout win against the Predators the night before when they surrendered 19 shots in the third period, the Rangers did it for a complete 60 minutes. Content to play a simple, low-event game, the Rangers bottled the Islanders up in all three zones and finished with 22 blocked shots, seven takeaways and numerous pass breakups. Igor Shesterkin didn’t have to sweat this shutout at all, facing just 21 shots and eight high-danger chances 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick.

Will Cuylle had himself a two-point game with a goal and an assist, each in the first period when the Rangers grabbed a 2-0 lead. The power forward opened the scoring by going to the net — something you can always count on him to do — and having a deflected Zac Jones shot redirect into the net off his helmet. Take it any way you can, right? He’s second on the Rangers with 17 goals this season. Cuylle also was willing to absorb a Noah Dobson check while slipping the puck to center to begin the 2-on-1 rush that ended with Borgen’s shorty.

Likely playing his final week with the Islanders since the trade deadline is looming Friday, Palmieri was on ice for all four Rangers goals and finished a miserable minus-4 Monday. Part of it was bad luck — it was his stick that deflected Jones’ shot which caromed into the net off Cuylle’s head, for example — but a rough night all-around for the pending UFA and Long Island native, who likely knows his days with the struggling Islanders are numbered.