At Madison Square Garden on Sunday, the New York Rangers defeated the New York Islanders 5-2 to win for the fifth time in six games. Jonny Brodzinski scored the game-winning goal in the second period.

According to Brodzinski, “I think it was a relentless [effort], “We didn’t give them much. There were a few times in the third period there where we had a couple of small breakdowns, but overall, I think it was really a good game for us.”

For the Rangers (45-19-4), who defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-4 on Saturday, Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves while Mika Zibanejad, Will Cuylle, Kaapo Kakko, and Alexis Lafrenière also scored. K’Andre Miller provided two helpers.

Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck remarked, “You saw in that first period, that was a great start by us,” “I thought the second period was really good. Just staying consistent. You saw it all the way up and down our lineup today. Nobody took the game off.”

The Islanders(29-23-15), who have lost four straight (0-3-1), including 4-3 in overtime to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, have dropped two games in a row. Bo Horvat has scored twice, Brock Nelson has two assists, and Ilya Sorokin has made 26 saves.

During their losing streak, the Islanders have been outscored 16–5.

Coach Patrick Roy remarked, “I’ll say this: I saw a team that played better than us today.” “They managed the puck much better than what we did. They’re very fast in transition. I thought they had more energy than us, for some reason.”

At 14:08 of the first period, Horvat made it 1-0 with a short-handed goal from the left face-off circle, following a pass from Nelson and an out-of-position play by Shesterkin.

In just 27 seconds of the second half, Zibanejad knotted the score at one. Following a mistake made by Ryan Pulock, the defenseman for the Islanders, near the half-wall, Zibanejad skillfully volleyed Jack Roslovic’s feed from above the circles past Sorokin.

At 10:14, Cuylle gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead with a wrist shot from the left circle following a Ryan Lindgren stretch pass.

At 13:55, Horvat leveled the score 2-2 by converting Nelson’s pass after a netfront scrum with Rangers center Barclay Goodrow.

“He was lethal tonight. When he had a chance, you thought it was going in,” ” The Islanders’ Mathew Barzal stated of Horvat, “I thought he played a really solid game. I wish my line, some other lines, could have given him some help.”

At 15:01, Brodzinski deflected Miller’s one-timer to give the Rangers an early lead again, 3-2. After Islanders defenseman Sebastian Aho fought with the Rangers forward as the latter was cutting to the net, Brodzinski found himself alone in front.

“It was a good breakout by us,” according to Brodzinski. “Kicked it to the middle, (Alexander) Wennberg made a good drive wide and I just stopped at the net. “[Their] defenseman just fell in the corner. Wide-open in the slot, Miller just fired it into me, and just a small deflection.”

By 2:36 of the third, Kakko had put the Rangers ahead 4-2. After winning a puck battle against Pierre Engvall of the Islanders near the wall, he went into the right circle and beat Sorokin with a wrist shot for his tenth goal of the year.

For the 5-2 victory, Lafreniere timed Artemi Panarin’s feed at 10:42.

The Rangers won the second of back-to-back games 11-1-0 to close out the season.

“I liked our compete. The score didn’t go our way in the first period, [but] we came out right away in the second period,” Coach Peter Laviolette stated, “Under the circumstances of the situation, for the New York Islanders as well, I thought it was really gutsy.”