NHL

New York Islanders at New York Rangers

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Islanders' Carson Soucy scores against his former team in 2-1 victory over Rangers

Mika Zibanejad nets power-play goal

Soucy became the first player to score for the Rangers and the Islanders at Madison Square Garden in the same season. The Islanders swept the back-to-back set between the crosstown rivals after winning 5-2 at home on Wednesday night.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 20 of 21 shots to pick up his 18th victory in 32 starts this season. Schaefer, the first pick in the draft last June, broke a tie with Hall of Famer Bobby Orr for the second-most goals by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history with his 14th.

Schaefer's goal came 1 minute, 35 seconds after Soucy beat former teammate Jonathan Quick short side from a tight angle. Soucy was playing just his second game with the Islanders since they gave up a third-round pick to get him in just the fourth trade between the New York teams and first since 2010.

Mika Zibanejad scored on the power play and Quick allowed two goals on 21 shots in his eighth appearance in 12 games since Igor Shesterkin was sidelined because of a lower-body injury. The long-term absences of Shesterkin and top defenseman Adam Fox exacerbated what was already a rough season for the Rangers, who recently signaled they are beginning a retooling process.

In line with that, they Artemi Panarin rather than risking an injury that could prevent trading him before the March 6 deadline. Panarin is a pending unrestricted free agent whom the Rangers informed they were not re-signing.

The Islanders, who have won three in a row as they aim to make the playoffs, were without fourth-line center Casey Cizikas because of illness. Maxim Shabanov took his spot in the lineup.

Up next Islanders: Host Nashville on Saturday night.

Rangers: Visit Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Regular Season Series

NYI win series 4-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 17:18 Carson Soucy Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Max Shabanov (12), Scott Mayfield (7)
Goal 2nd Period 18:53 Matthew Schaefer Goal (14) Wrist Shot, assists: Bo Horvat (14)
Goal 3rd Period 2:48 Mika Zibanejad Goal (23) Slap Shot, assists: Vladislav Gavrikov (11), J.T. Miller (21)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYI https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyr.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYR
17 Blocked Shots 10
16 Hits 31
3 Takeaways 2
21 Shots 21
0 Power Play Goals 1
3 Power Play Opportunities 3
0.0 Power Play Percentage 33.3
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
21 Faceoffs Won 35
37.5 Faceoff Win Percent 62.5
12 Giveaways 16
4 Total Penalties 4
8 Penalty Minutes 8
New York Rangers New York Rangers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Jonathan Quick, G Day-To-Day Mar 26
Matt Rempe, C Injured Reserve Mar 23
Urho Vaakanainen, D Out Mar 21
Noah Laba, C Out Mar 21
New York Islanders New York Islanders Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Tony DeAngelo, D Out Mar 26
Alexander Romanov, D Injured Reserve Mar 12
Pierre Engvall, LW Injured Reserve Mar 12
Semyon Varlamov, G Injured Reserve Mar 12
Kyle Palmieri, C Injured Reserve Nov 30

Game Information

Madison Square Garden

Location: New York, NY
Attendance: 18,006 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 45 20 96 6
Pittsburgh 36 20 88 16
Columbus 38 23 87 11
NY Islanders 41 27 87 5
Philadelphia 35 24 82 12
Washington 36 28 81 9
New Jersey 37 32 76 2
NY Rangers 28 35 65 9
Full Standings