The Islanders entered Wednesday’s game at Madison Square Garden an admittedly “desperate” team — and after they beat the Rangers, 3-2, the Blueshirts might use the same term to describe their own situation at home.
Andrew Ladd’s third-period, power-play goal gave the Islanders their first lead of the night, and they held on for just their second win in six games. The Rangers have now dropped seven in a row at the Garden.
After the latest home defeat — one in which they coughed up a 2-1 lead in the third period — the Rangers were left searching for solutions on numerous fronts.
“What we have to do is try to solve the riddle,” Derek Stepan said. “I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t understand why we can’t seem to get it done on home ice. … We have to find the answer and get it done before the playoffs come around.”
Perhaps it is just as well the Rangers are headed out of town for a three-game West Coast swing, beginning on Saturday against the Kings.
But simply getting away from the Garden won’t fix everything, because the Rangers also are in the midst of an ugly stretch on their penalty kill. They allowed two more power-play goals, including Nikolay Kulemin’s game-tying tally in the third period.
Ladd then scored the game-winner at 12:38 of the third, beating Antti Raanta on a rebound.
Michael Grabner had a chance to tie the game on a shorthanded breakaway in the waning moments, but Nick Leddy caught up to him and bothered his shot as the Islanders held on for the win.
The Islanders now sit just two points back of Boston for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 10 games to play — and a game in hand on the Bruins.
“We just keep believing,” said John Tavares, who committed three penalties in the victory. “There’s still 10 games to go, and you play 82 for a reason. We had high expectations going into the season, and that hasn’t changed.”
“It was a huge win,” Islanders coach Dough Weight said.
Mats Zuccarello gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead 2:46 into the second. He was left alone in front of the net on the power play, where a flailing Mika Zibanejad found him as he fell to the ice.
The advantage lasted less than a minute, as Anders Lee pounced on a rebound off a shot by Anthony Beauvillier to tie it at 1-1.
Rick Nash put the Rangers up, 2-1, bullying his way down the ice and beating Thomas Greiss as he sprawled for the puck at 6:36, as the wild start to the second period continued.
Brock Nelson had a chance to get the Islanders even again early in the third off a perfect feed from Cal Clutterbuck, but didn’t get a good shot off right in front of Raanta.
The Islanders got some good fortune on the power play in the third, as Joshua Ho-Sang’s pass in front of the net first deflected off Beauvillier’s skate, then Kulemin’s skate and into the net at 5:01.
“We got a little unlucky, I thought, in the third period there,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “The only way to get the right bounce is by continuing to work smart and hard and that’s what this group is going to do.”
That will have to wait until they get to California, while the Islanders look to continue their late playoff push in Pittsburgh on Friday.
“We had high expectations going into the season and that hasn’t changed,” Tavares said. “So we just want to keep working and give ourselves a chance to compete for the Cup.”