Bjorkstrand’s second-period tiebreaker sends Rangers past Islanders 5-2 at Madison Square Garden

The game turned again at 17:07

The Rangers struck first at 6:40 of the opening period when Bjorkstrand scored on a slap shot, with Lafrenière collecting the assist. That was the only goal of the first, but the home side widened the margin almost immediately after the restart. Just 25 seconds into the second, Lafrenière beat the Islanders on a snap shot off a setup from Mika Zibanejad and Vladislav Gavrikov for a 2-0 lead.

For a few minutes, though, the game looked as if it had swung completely the other way. Bo Horvat answered at 2:56 of the second from Matias Maccelli and Brayden Schenn, and Calum Ritchie tied it at 4:52 with Schenn earning his second assist of the period. The Islanders had wiped out the deficit with two goals in 1:56, but the tie lasted only until 17:07. Bjorkstrand scored again, this time on a wrist shot set up by Gabe Perreault and Will Cuylle, and the Rangers carried that 3-2 edge into the third before adding two more goals to close the night.

Efficiency decided more than volume

The cleanest explanation for the final margin sits in the shot totals. The Islanders finished with 17 shots to the Rangers’ 14, yet the Rangers converted five times while the Islanders managed two goals. That did not make it a one-sided territorial game on the numbers; it made it a sharply efficient one for the home team, especially around the moments that changed the scoreline.

The Islanders also won more faceoffs, 54.7 per cent to 45.3 per cent, which usually gives a team more chances to settle play. It was not enough here. Special teams offered another opening, and the Islanders could only partly use it, going 1-for-4 on the power play while the Rangers went 1-for-2. New York’s edge in hits, 20-13, and a slight edge in blocked shots, 11-10, rounded out a night in which the Rangers did a little more with a little less.

Our take

The Rangers will like the fact that their most dangerous names actually drove the result rather than merely filling the scoresheet after the game was decided. Bjorkstrand supplied the finishing with two goals, while Lafrenière touched the first two Rangers goals with an assist and a goal of his own. Zibanejad, Gavrikov, Perreault and Cuylle all had direct hands in turning the game at the moments that mattered most.

For the Islanders, the response in the second period was the best part of the evening. Horvat and Ritchie erased a 2-0 hole quickly, and Schenn’s two assists gave that push some structure on paper. But the comeback needed a longer runway than the Islanders could give it. They did not get to the third period even, and with only 17 shots overall and one power-play goal in four chances, there was not enough offence left to recover again.

That is what makes Bjorkstrand’s second goal the real hinge of the game. The Islanders had repaired the damage, the building had a rivalry game back at 2-2, and one late strike before intermission changed the tone again. From there, the Rangers owned the margin. In a 5-2 finish that included only 14 Rangers shots, the lasting impression is not volume but timing: they found their goals in the exact stretches that broke the Islanders’ resistance.

Scoring moments

1. 1st · 6:40

   Oliver Bjorkstrand Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Alexis Lafrenière (2), Sean Durzi (1)

2. 2nd · 0:25

   Alexis Lafrenière Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Mika Zibanejad (3), Vladislav Gavrikov (2)

3. 2nd · 2:56

   Bo Horvat Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Matias Maccelli (1), Brayden Schenn (2)

4. 2nd · 4:52

   Calum Ritchie Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Brayden Schenn (3)

5. 2nd · 17:07

   Oliver Bjorkstrand Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Gabe Perreault (2), Will Cuylle (3)

6. 3rd · 18:22

   Alexis Lafrenière Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: J.T. Miller (1), Mika Zibanejad (4)

7. 3rd · 18:54

   Alexis Lafrenière Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Adam Fox (5), Vladislav Gavrikov (3)