ELMONT, N.Y.—For the first game of their home and home, the New York Islanders hosted the New York Rangers at UBS Arena on Wednesday night. This was also off the tails of a trade between the two teams, with Carson Soucy heading to Long Island in exchange for a 2026 third round draft pick. Before the game, it was announced that Artemi Panarin would be scratched for roster management purposes, likely having already played his last game as a Ranger.
Ondrej Palat started on the first line for the Islanders, another recent acquisition for the Islanders from the New Jersey Devils. The Islanders placed Palat with Bo Horvat and Emil Heineman, two of the Islanders’ most prolific players this season. Palat earned two points in his first game with the Islanders and was named first star of the game.
The first true shot of the game didn’t come until 4:07 into the first period, which Rangers’ goaltender, Spencer Martin, haphazardly grabbed ahold of.
The Islanders were playing a quick and aggressive game in the early bit of the first period, making fast passes and even faster shots. Alexis Lafreniere took the first penalty of the game after slashing Mat Barzal’s stick so hard that it splintered. Nine seconds into the power play, Horvat was sent off for interference against Mika Zibanejad, shooting his stick into the crowd. Vincent Trochek was sent to join his line mate in the box for slashing with 31 seconds left on Lafreniere’s penalty.
The Islanders then earned 1:15 of power play time with Horvat out of the box. The Rangers earned a short handed chance, but J.T. Miller missed the shot. A good decision to center a pass from Simon Holmstrom led to Palat’s first goal as an Islander.
TWO ANGLES. ONE PALAT GOAL. pic.twitter.com/6nv81Lc4MU
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) January 29, 2026
Following the TV timeout, the face-off went straight to Tony DeAngelo who made a shot from the point, which was tipped in by Holmstrom for the 2-0 lead.
With 2:27 remaining, Jonathan Drouin was sent to the box for high sticking Trocheck. David Rittich made an impossible save just seconds before Zibanejad put the Rangers on the board in the tiniest of spaces between Rittich and the post.
The Rangers got a better jump on the second period, finally finding some chances, but Rittich stood tall. Casey Cizikas took a nasty hit and was down for a bit, causing a scrum in front of the Rangers’ bench. Cizikas was back on the ice shortly after. On a delayed penalty, a late hit on Marc Gatcomb by Matt Rempe sent fists flying. Rempe and Carrick went to the box: Carrick earning the original penalty for a trip and subsequently cross-checking, for four minutes, and Rempe earning a two minute for boarding.
The 5-on-3 would last for two minutes. With 29 seconds left in the second Carrick penalty, a tic-tac-toe pass sequence sent the puck to Barzal who netted the third goal for the Islanders. A no-look pass from Horvat to Holmstrom sent everyone to the left of Martin, leaving Barzal all alone.
As the goal was being announced, J.G. Pageau was able to stuff in a shot from Gatcomb that Martin originally stopped. The Islanders were up 4-1 with six minutes left in the second.
With 4:18 left, the Rangers found a chance, with Taylor Raddysh pushing the puck into the net as he was falling, cutting the Islanders’ lead to two goals.
In the last minute of the second, Heineman netted one past Martin for a fifth goal, giving the Isles their 3 goal lead back.
The third period saw more chances for the Islanders. The first half was mostly dominated by the home team before Horvat was sent off for tripping Lafreniere. The Islanders nearly earned a short handed goal from Pageau and successfully killed the penalty before immediately regaining possession in the Rangers’ zone.
The Rangers looked less than thrilled with their performance thus far but also didn’t appear to want to make much of an effort to turn the game around.
The two teams play again on Thursday, this time at Madison Square Garden, for their final matchup of the season.
