Bo Horvat scored on an odd-man rush midway through the first period and added a power-play goal late in the second Saturday night and the New York Islanders recorded a 5-0 victory over the New York Rangers, who remained winless at home ice.
In the opener of a seven-game road trip, the Islanders ended a five-game losing streak to the Rangers and beat them for only the second time in the past 10 meetings.
Jonathan Drouin added a goal on an odd-man rush with 33 seconds left in the opening period and set up Horvat’s second goal along with Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s empty-net tally with 2:01 left in the third.
Anders Lee finished it off by scoring on an odd-man rush in the final minute.
Horvat recorded his third multi-goal game of the season and has 11 goals through his first 15 games. Horvat moved into a tie for the NHL lead with Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Anaheim’s Cutter Gauthier.
Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 shots and started his big night with an arm save on Artemi Panarin in the opening minute. He also denied Mika Zibanejad twice during a Rangers power play with about six minutes left in the second.
It was Sorokin’s 23rd career shutout and second in 12 career games against the Rangers.
The Rangers dropped to 0-6-1 at home this season for their longest home winless skid to start a season in their 100-year history. New York was blanked for the fifth time on home ice as they’ve managed just six goals at Madison Square Garden.
The Islanders went ahead with 9:31 remaining in the first when Ryan Pulock cleared the puck from the defensive zone after Adam Fox’s pass went through the crease. From near the blue line, Pulock sprung the odd-man rush and Horvat finished it off with Emil Heineman by lifting a shot from the right circle by Shesterkin’s right arm.
After Panarin lost the puck in the neutral zone, Pageau got the puck and quickly gave it to Anthony Duclair. The Rangers made it 2-0 at 19:27 of the first as Duclair sped down the left wing and passed the puck to Drouin, who slipped a backhander by Shesterkin right before the intermission.
During a power play, Drouin made a slick backhanded pass to Horvat, who lifted a shot over Shesterkin from the right circle to push the lead to 3-0 with 1:18 left in the second.
