The Islanders defense laid a goose egg and the team lost to the Rangers by a score of 5-0 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday evening in the debut of rookie goalie Ilya Sorokin.

After Cal Clutterbuck shot high in warmups, injuring Islanders starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov, Sorokin was thrown into action and forced to make his NHL debut. Sorokin was rightfully shaky early in the first period, as he gave up a goal to Pavel Buchnevich on the second shot he faced. Sorokin got more comfortable as the game went on, but it was too little too late as the Rangers were already up big. The Islanders didn’t give Sorokin much help in his first game.

“We did it to ourselves injuring [Varlamov] in the warmup,” said Islanders head coach Barry Trotz. “To me, it’s almost unacceptable. That’s like running your quarterback over in warmup. Players have to recognize that your goaltender is almost your most important player on your team and you have to get him warmed up. Guys were not thinking. It wasn’t fair to [Sorokin]. It wasn’t fair to [Varlamov].”

Alexander Georgiev posted a shutout for the Rangers by stopping all of the 23 shots that he faced. He is now 6-2-0 against the New York Islanders in his career.

The Rangers took control of this game early and cashed in on many Islanders mistakes. The bounces just did not go the Islanders way tonight as they did on Thursday, as the Rangers got most of the puck luck in this game. It was basically a complete opposite of opening night.

“We were junk today,” Trotz said.

Special teams played a huge factor, as there were 12 penalties called in the game. The Isles took most of the penalties tonight, the opposite of Thursday night’s game. Mat Barzal took two penalties within two shifts early in the second period and had a third penalty late in the game. There was only one power-play goal and it came in the games final minutes off of a Ross Johnston roughing penalty. The Rangers were 1-8 on the power-play where the Islanders were 1-4.

Buchnevich scored his second goal of the game with a snipe after Scott Mayfield collided the linesman. Kaapo Kakko scored off of a two-on-one with tons of open ice. Artemi Panarin added two goals including one on a breakaway with the Islanders caught in the offensive zone. Everything came effortlessly for the Rangers where as the Islanders were struggling to complete passes and maintain possession of the puck.

We will have to assume Barry Trotz will make lineup changes for the Islanders next game. In regards to Varlamov’s injury, there is no official update.

Hearing it’s a jaw issue for Semyon Varlamov. Warmup shot caught him higher than it appeared on TV. No word on severity or how he feels today. #Isles are off and face BOS tomorrow at the Coliseum.

— Arthur Staple (@StapeAthletic) January 17, 2021

The Isles will next take the ice for their home opener at the newly named Nassau Live Center against the Boston Bruins on Monday at 5 p.m. EST.

John Smark