Artemi Panarin scored twice and the host New York Rangers never trailed in a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon.
Chris Kreider opened the scoring and Vincent Trocheck scored his 200th career goal early in the second period for the Rangers, who won for the third time in four games. Adam Edstrom scored in the third.
Goalie Igor Shesterkin made 35 saves.
Casey Cizikas and Brock Nelson found the net in the second for the Islanders, who have lost five of seven (2-5-0). Goalie Ilya Sorokin also recorded 35 saves.
An impressive display of passing by Kreider and Mika Zibanejad led to the Rangers taking the lead with a short-handed goal 3:44 into the first. Zibanejad picked off a no-look pass by Noah Dobson in the neutral zone and immediately passed to Kreider, who sent a drop pass to Zibanejad through Dobson. Zibanejad then dished back to Kreider, whose shot from the goal line went into the net past a sprawled Sorokin.
Another Islanders turnover led to Trocheck’s milestone goal at 1:21 of the second. The Rangers’ Reilly Smith poked the puck free from Samuel Bolduc deep in the visitors’ zone and passed to Trocheck, who scored from the middle of the slot.
A second effort by Cizikas resulted in the Islanders’ first goal a little more than three minutes later. Shesterkin stopped a shot by Pierre Engvall but did not cover up the puck before Cizikas raced into the crease and scored at the 4:38 mark.
Panarin gave the Rangers a two-goal lead again with a power-play tally with 8:56 remaining, when his shot sailed past the glove of Sorokin, who was screened by a leaping Trocheck.
The Islanders scored another greasy goal to pull within one with eight seconds left in the frame. Anders Lee passed across the ice to Kyle Palmieri, who dragged the puck around Jacob Trouba after the defenseman fell. Palmieri fed Nelson, who was stationed at the back of the crease and flicked a shot into the upper corner of the net.
The Rangers added a pair of insurance goals in the third. Edstrom was credited with his first goal of the season when Braden Schneider’s shot glanced off his back and fluttered past Sorokin at 5:18. Panarin scored on an empty-netter from deep in the Islanders’ zone with 3:23 left, his ninth of the season.
