Islanders: Three Takeaways from Second Rangers Shutout

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The New York Islanders fourth line celebrate a goal. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

From a losing streak to consecutive wins, the New York Islanders have managed to flip their fortunes with a 2-0 win over New York Rangers.

From a five-game losing streak to back-to-back wins, the New York Islanders have managed to flip their fortunes of late.

After a low-event start to Monday’s action at Madison Square Garden, the Isles and Rangers traded a few scoring chances to no avail until the Islanders fourth line struck twice late in the third period, lifting them to a 2-0 win.

Here are three takeaways from a sleepy but mostly solid Islanders win from Monday night.

1. New York Islanders fourth line made the difference

The New York Islanders fourth line had not had many bright moments to this point in the season. Casey Cizikas, Matt Martin, and Cal Clutterbuck are three forwards among a larger group that had struggled through ten games both in their own zone and in the opposition’s zone.

But, starting last game in Pittsburgh, the Cizikas line seemed to be re-finding their game to some degree. That trend continued on Monday, as fourth-liners Cizikas and Matt Martin each found the back of the net to elevate the Islanders over their cross-town rivals, 2-0.

Cizikas, who was the best member of the trio, finished with the second-highest ixG, both according to Moneypuck and Natural Stat Trick. Meanwhile, Martin’s individual expected goals finished third on the team according to Moneypuck, and eighth on Natural Stat Trick.

As a 5v5 trio, the fourth line was strong in all three zones. They limited the Rangers scoring chances as well as any Islanders 5v5 line, and spent large chunks of their ice time in the offensive zone, cycling, forechecking, and throwing their weight around in the corners.

The veteran trio also generated as many High Danger Chances For as any Islanders forward line, including the line of Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal, and Josh Bailey. With three HDCF in only 6:19 5v5 TOI together, the fourth line was efficient and capitalized on their chances.

Ignoring their (crucial) goals completely, the Islanders fourth line played a huge role in Monday’s win. There were no uncharacteristic coverage lapses from Casey Cizikas in his own zone, the trio played their usual heavy-style game, and they did so to great effect.

That’s not even accounting for the penalty-killing efforts of Cizikas and Clutterbuck, who played over two minutes of very strong PK time each, shutting down the Rangers man advantage.

The fourth line’s effort was an encouraging sign that maybe the veteran bottom-six group still have some tread left on the tires. Previous games had not been as positive from them, but there can be no doubt that they played their best game of the season on Monday, and it will be important to see them build on that going forward.

New York Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov (40) . Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Semyon Varlamov’s run of dominance at MSG

Semyon Varlamov did it again. For the second time this season, the 32-year-old Russian goalie has shutout the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Varlamov pushed aside 30 Rangers shots en route to his second shutout of the Blueshirts in as many games. Including the Islanders’ 1-0 win over the Boston Bruins, this shutout is Varlamov’s third total during the 2020-21 season.

Varlamov’s cool confidence was apparent throughout his start. He was tracking pucks well through traffic when he had to, getting strong first pushes in order to move quickly laterally, and was in strong positioning all night.

The MSG+ broadcast mentioned on several occasions just how assured Varlamov appeared in his crease tonight. He challenged shooters at the top of the crease, rarely having to make ten-bell saves because his positioning and angle work made the stops often appear routine.

At the same time, Varly was huge in the clutch moments as well. He stonewalled Artemi Panarin on a breakaway after the Rangers winger managed to get behind Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, one of the rare fumbles from that pairing in this game. Not too long after that nervy breakaway save, Varly came up big again, shutting down a Rangers two-on-one featuring Mike Zibanejad.

With the win, Varlamov’s record improves to 5-2-1. It’s Varly’s fifth Quality Start, and he’s saved 204 of 219 shots faced during 2020-21.

Varlamov has seen his ups and his downs this season. As previously stated, Monday’s win is his fifth Quality Start, a stat developed by Rob Vollman which measures starts by a goaltender with a SV% greater than average SV% for the season. However, he also has two Really Bad Starts, another stat by Vollman which indicates the number of starts for netminders with a SV% below .850.

Varlamov is 4-1-0 in his Quality Starts, with the sole loss coming against the Washington Capitals on January 26’s 3-2 decision in the nation’s capital. The Islanders will need more strong starts from Varly, and Ilya Sorokin, going forward in order to maintain success. They got just that on Monday, and they picked up two points because of it.

Cal Clutterbuck #15 with Casey Cizikas #53 of the New York Islanders. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

3. Islanders special teams were excellent again

On Saturday, Anders Lee scored the game-winner in the third period to help the Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins with a late power-play goal. Monday, it was the Islanders penalty kill that helped to push them over the top against the Rangers.

In particular, the Islanders second penalty-kill unit, comprised of J.G. Pageau, Leo Komarov, Andy Greene, and Ryan Pulock were incredibly strong. The penalty killers stopped the Rangers from setting up in the Islander zone for any extended periods of time and allowed no shot attempts in their 4v5 TOI.

In total, Islanders penalty-killers surrendered four total shot attempts, with one shot blocked by Andy Greene, who cleared the puck down the ice to finish the game.

The Islanders special teams need to continue to play well and come up big in crucial moments. The penalty kill especially needs to remain reliable as it has throughout the early parts of this season. This Islanders team, with a poor penalty-kill and below-average 5v5 offense, simply can’t afford to have to make up ground lost due to surrendering power-play goals.

That isn’t to say that this Islanders penalty-kill has stifled the best man-advantage units league-wide. The Rangers, surprisingly, rank 24th in power-play conversion rate at 13.6%, which is nearly four percent lower than the Islanders’ 19th-ranked power-play.

We’ve all seen how poor the Islanders’ power-play has looked. Some nights it’s hard to believe there exists a unit worse than them in the NHL. But the Rangers man-advantage has been consistently worse throughout 2020-21.

So, like on Saturday vs. Pittsburgh, this unit didn’t make the difference against elite opposition. But, they’ve contributed in key moments, and that has been the difference in the last two outcomes.

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