Key takeaways after Rangers blow another lead, lose 5-4 to Islanders
Talk about a nasty deja vu. The New York Rangers once again blew a multi-goal lead in the third period, this time in a 5-4 preseason loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers surrendered three unanswered goals in the final period Thursday and let a 4-2 lead evaporate into defeat. Two days prior, they lost to the Boston Bruins 5-4 in overtime after they carried a 4-1 lead into the third period.
“I think it happened two completely different ways,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan explained postgame. “But, yeah, that’s certainly something we don’t want to happen too often. We have to do a better job at controlling momentum and playing with a lead.”
Dylan Garand faced 10 shots after he replaced Jonathan Quick to start the third period. The 2025 AHL All-Star allowed goals to Cameron Berg at 6:59 after a big Islanders penalty kill; Gleb Veremeyev, his second of the game at 15:17; and Kyle Palmieri, the game winner at 16:14.
Garand was handcuffed on Palmieri’s soft backhand shot from left wing, with the puck rolling up his right arm and over his shoulder before landing in the net.
The Rangers (1-1-1) did a lot of good things over the first 40 minutes, but couldn’t seal the deal. They had four different goal scorers, including J.T. Miller in his first game wearing the captain’s C. Ten Rangers were on the score sheet, led by Vincent Trocheck (goal, assist) and Conor Sheary (two assists).
The Islanders (1-1-1) scored a pair of goals 23 seconds apart to take a 2-0 lead in the opening period. But the Rangers roared back with three goals of their own in a span of 2:31 to carry a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.
Veremeyev fended off the check of Rangers defenseman Scott Morrow to open the scoring with a deflection of a pass out of the corner at 14:23. The Islanders caught Morrow and his Rangers teammates scrambling on the next shift, and Chris Terry scored from behind the goal line at 14:46 to double their advantage.
Though that was a goal Quick would like back, the 39-year-old settled in and stopped the next 11 shots he faced before being replaced by Garand at the start of the third period.
Trocheck deflected an Adam Fox shot past Islanders goalie David Rittich 16 seconds after Terry’s goal. And Brennan Othmann tied things up at 17:21, wiring a left-wing power-play shot past Rittich.
Twelve seconds later it was 3-2 Rangers, after Brett Berard buried a Noah Laba pass between his legs from behind the goal line.
The Rangers made it four straight goals when Miller’s one-timer beat Rittich on the power play at 10:17 of the second period. It was their last goal of the night, ahead of the late-game meltdown.
Here’s a breakdown of the key takeaways from the Rangers’ 5-4 preseason loss to the Islanders on Thursday.
Related: Why Rangers will play ‘hybrid game’ style under coach Mike Sullivan
1. Puck possession; puck pursuit; puck pressure
For the first two periods, the Rangers skated fast, played hard, and were the much better team. The 4-2 lead was well-earned, as was their 24-15 shots advantage.
The Rangers rolled four lines, each sticking to a game plan of relentless puck pursuit. That led to a steady diet of winning puck battles and possessing it more than not, quality scoring chances, and serious puck pressure the times the Islanders were in possession.
Miller helped set the tone in his preseason debut, centering Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault. But it wasn’t jus that top line. It was also Othmann, Trocheck, and Alexis Lafreniere, just as it was Laba on the third line with Sheary and Berard. And Matt Rempe (6-foot-9) was a force on a towering line that included Adam Edstrom (6-foot-7) and Dylan Roobroeck (6-foot-7).
If the Rangers commit to this brand of hockey for a full 60 minutes on a consistent basis, it should be a recipe for success this season.
2. Brennan Othmann makes his case for Rangers roster spot
Othmann played, by far, his best game of the preseason Thursday. For sure, his goal was sweet, ripped confidently past Rittich after a well-placed pass by Morrow. But it’s the fact that he was constantly in front of net wreaking havoc shift after shift, and winning battles along the boards when he wasn’t in Rittich’s face.
Simply, you noticed Othmann, and for all the right reasons. This after two fairly quiet games to begin the preseason. The 22-year-old is in a serious competition with Perreault, Berard, and Sheary for, perhaps, one spot on the opening-night roster. He made a strong case against the Islanders.
3. Third-period woes
Well, if the Rangers wished to distance themselves from last season’s dismal campaign — one that was pockmarked by a slew of blown leads and constant inability to rally in the third period — they sure picked a funny way to do so. Make it a pair of ugly multi-goal blown leads in the final period over consecutive games, albeit preseason games.
Still, it’s not a good look. Even if Garand, the rookie goaltender, must shoulder the blame for the eventual game winner Thursday, two nights after another youngster, Talyn Boyko, was victimized by the Bruins. The Rangers were out-shot 10-5 in the third, and the Islanders had a 66.52 percent expected goal share in the final 20 minutes, per Natural Stat Trick.
The overall eye test in the third period wasn’t terrible, though Fox completely lost his man in the paint for the game-tying goal. Still, you can bet Mike Sullivan isn’t happy after he let it be known how unacceptable the loss was Tuesday, preseason or not.
“You want to win games that you’re playing … We’ve, the two games, been the better team for most of it … But you don’t want that stuff to creep in when you do have a two-goal lead in games,” Fox summed up.
