New York Islanders play their best preseason game in win over the New York Rangers

The New York Islanders turned the tables on the New York Rangers on Friday night at UBS Arena. In the Isles’ first preseason meeting against the Rangers, they blew a 4-1 lead to lose 6-4.

This time around, the Islanders came back from an early 2-0 deficit to walk away with a 5-2 win over their crosstown rivals. The Isles looked solid in the game, with the big guns showing up for an important game.

So, let’s take a look at the key takeaways from the New York Islanders’ final preseason game.

Key takeaways from the New York Islanders' preseason win over the New York Rangers

The top line performed as advertised

The scoresheet looked scary for the Isles’ top line. Mathew Barzal had five points (one goal and four assists), Bo Horvat scored two, while Anthony Duclair notched three points (one tally and two helpers). In all, the ten points were more than enough to power the Isles to an important win over the Rangers.

The Isles didn’t quit

The Rangers took a quick 2-0 lead on a couple of unlucky bounces. In particular, the first goal was a puck that jumped in the air and fell behind Semyon Varlamov into the back of the net. It was a fluke goal that the Rangers wouldn’t have otherwise scored.

The second goal was an unlucky redirection in the front of the net that went off a skate. But after that, Varlamov shut the door to keep the Isles in the game. The Islanders pressured, leading to Horvat’s first of the game on the power play.

The effort was there for the entire night, especially in the third when the Isles put the game away with two nifty goals.

Tsyplakov stood out again

What else can be said about Maxim Tsyplakov? He ended the night with a goal and an assist. He’s looking more and more like the real deal. At this pace, the sky’s the limit for Tsyplakov. Perhaps 20-plus goals and 50-plus points would not be out of the question for the Russian winger.

Tsyplakov made a highly intelligent play on the Horvat goal and then scored on a funny hop off K’Andre Miller to put the Isles up 3-2. Tsyplakov’s goal came with the man advantage, making the top two power play units equally effective on the night.

The Isles locked the game down in the third

Lastly, kudos to the Isles for locking the game down in the third period. They did not give the Rangers any opportunity to get back into the game. In fact, the Isles used their speed to pick on a tired Rangers defense to put the game away.

The Isles will be off until next Thursday when they officially open their season against the NHL’s newest team, the Utah Hockey Club.