Matias Maccelli finishes Islanders’ four-goal comeback as Rangers let 3-0 lead slip at MSG

The cushion disappeared in a hurry

For a stretch, this looked like a Rangers night built on a clean, simple script. Cole Beaudoin opened the scoring at 8:23 of the first period, wiring home a wrist shot with Eeli Tolvanen and Sean Durzi on the setup. Early in the second, Pavel Dorofeyev doubled the lead at 6:03 from Oliver Bjorkstrand and J.T. Miller, and only 1:17 later Taylor Raddysh made it 3-0 with a tip-in off feeds from Alberts Smits and Braden Schneider.

That should have been enough of a platform. Instead, it became the beginning of the collapse. Kyle MacLean got the Islanders moving at 11:36 of the second, finishing a wrist shot from Mitchell Chaffee and Casey Cizikas, and the game immediately felt less settled. Matthew Schaefer then cut the deficit to 3-2 at 17:47, taking assists from Maccelli and Brayden Schenn. The Rangers scored three times in the first 27:20 of game time and then did not score again; that is the central swing of the evening.

Maccelli and Schaefer turned the entire game

Once the Islanders got within one before intermission, the third period belonged to their most influential players. Maccelli tied the game at 4:02 with a wrist shot set up by Bo Horvat and Schaefer. Then, at 9:29, he struck again, this time on a backhand from Schaefer and Kyle Palmieri, turning a three-goal hole into a 4-3 Islanders lead.

Maccelli finished with two goals and an assist, directly involved in three of the Islanders’ four goals. Schaefer was just as important, posting a goal, two assists and six shots while skating 27:07, the heaviest workload among Islanders skaters listed. When a defenseman drives that much offense and logs that much ice, it usually means he is touching every important part of the game. Tuesday fit that pattern exactly.

The special-teams edge sharpened everything the Islanders did well. They went 3-for-5 on the power play, while the Rangers went 0-for-1. That difference matters on any night, but it mattered even more in a one-goal game where the faceoff split was nearly even and the Rangers actually led in hits, 31-22. The Islanders did not need to win every category; they needed to win the one that bent the scoreboard.

They also got steadier goaltending as the night progressed. Semyon Varlamov’s line was spotless: 28:54 played, eight shots faced, eight saves, no goals allowed. With the Rangers stuck on three, the Islanders had the space to complete the comeback instead of chasing a moving target.

Our take: discipline, not force, wrote the ending

The Rangers will look at the early 3-0 lead and regret how little they made of it, but the cleaner explanation is sitting in the special-teams ledger. They took eight penalties for 19 minutes. The Islanders took four for 11. The Islanders converted three of five power plays. The Rangers converted none of one. In a 4-3 game, that is not a side note; that is the story.

There were other warning signs for the Rangers, too. They finished with 17 shots, only 13 giveaways became recorded against them, and after Raddysh’s goal at 7:20 of the second they had no more scoring to show for the rest of the night. So the improvement path looks fairly plain: fewer penalties, cleaner puck management, and a way to keep producing once the first burst fades. Their opening stretch was productive, but it was not durable.

For the Islanders, the win should not erase the opening problem. Falling behind 3-0 by 7:20 of the second is a dangerous way to spend a night, even if the recovery was impressive. Their 10 giveaways and just one recorded takeaway suggest there is room to make the game less complicated before the power play has to do so much repair work. A comeback this sharp is a strength; needing one at all is the caution.

Still, the result says something real about where the Islanders were better. They had the game’s most decisive skaters in Maccelli and Schaefer, they finished stronger, and they punished the Rangers’ mistakes where it hurt most. For the Rangers, this one should linger because 3-0 at home ought to be enough. For the Islanders, it was the kind of comeback built not on mystery, but on a clear formula: survive the early damage, cash the extra chances, and let your hottest hands finish the job.

Scoring moments

1. 1st · 8:23

   Cole Beaudoin Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Eeli Tolvanen (1), Sean Durzi (1)

2. 2nd · 6:03

   Pavel Dorofeyev Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Oliver Bjorkstrand (1), J.T. Miller (1)

3. 2nd · 7:20

   Taylor Raddysh Goal (1) Tip-In, assists: Alberts Smits (1), Braden Schneider (1)

4. 2nd · 11:36

   Kyle MacLean Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Mitchell Chaffee (1), Casey Cizikas (1)

5. 2nd · 17:47

   Matthew Schaefer Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Matias Maccelli (1), Brayden Schenn (1)

6. 3rd · 4:02

   Matias Maccelli Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Bo Horvat (1), Matthew Schaefer (1)

7. 3rd · 9:29

   Matias Maccelli Goal (2) Backhand, assists: Matthew Schaefer (2), Kyle Palmieri (1)