If the Rangers get a reality test after defeating the humble Devils four games in a row, it’s left to the islanders.
Because the Blueshirts played Tuesday night at the Nassau Coliseum in a 6-1 defeat to an islanders battling the best seed in the East, they played a team that was selected on the deadline and whose playoffs do not exist Not.
After achieving two convincing victories over their New York rivals earlier in the season, the Rangers had to face the off-season version of the Islands.
“They’re ready for the playoffs,” Brendan Smith said. “And we got a little taste of that.”
While the Rangers’ climb to earn a bid after the season may have become even more frightening – with the Bruins pulling out by six points ahead of them after a win over the Sabers on Tuesday – the biggest loss of the night was the defender Jacob Trouba, who was leveled about halfway through the first period by Islanders heavyweight Matt Martin in the boards.
He is visibly rattled and struggling to get back on his skate. With the way Trouba’s head bounced into the glass, he probably had a concussion.
Trouba, who did not return with what the team described as a torso injury, has so far been the Rangers’ main source of physicality. Losing him for any time, let alone the last stretch of the regular season, would be detrimental to the Rangers’ hopes of finishing strong.
“Obviously you saw the effect,” head coach David Quinn said after losing Trouba. “But I also did not love what we did before he was hurt. I thought we were just not playing like we should be playing if we were going to have a chance. We were sloppy, we had too high a risk, too east-west.
“We did not play fast enough and as soon as Troubs went out, our level of play dropped even more.”
After a 3-1 lead in the third period, the Islanders blew the game open with three unanswered goals. Behind a three-point night from Josh Bailey, which includes two goals, the Islanders have apparently returned to their heavy playing style which they have evaded by three losses in their previous five games.
The islanders led 1-0 after a first period played on the playoffs. From the moment Trouba went to the locker room, the Rangers were clearly discouraged.
A few shifts after a crazy series in which a loose shot came in behind Rangers goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin and somehow did not go in, Bailey swept a pass from JG Pageau around the islands at 17:42 1-0 ahead. Brock Nelson nearly doubled the score at the buzzer after undressing Ryan Lindgren but hitting the crossbar.
Nelson made it just 1:38 into the second half and diverted a feed from Nick Leddy to Shesterkin. The Rangers struggled early to stay out of the penalty area and sent the Islanders on their third power play, which Anthony Beauvillier, on his way to a four-point night, took advantage of with a one-time extension of the 3-0 score. five minutes in the middle frame.
Brendan Smith, who competed in the second period as the Rangers’ playoff hopes depended on it, tore the shot that Kevin Rooney dismissed for their only goal of the game.
Round 6 of the Battle of New York did not really feel like a battle, as it easily belonged to the islanders.