The New York Rangers complete their NHL preseason schedule with a visit on Saturday to the New York Islanders. The Rangers are 2-3 in the preseason following a 5-4 loss on Wednesday to the Boston Bruins. New York's only two victories in the preseason have been versus the Islanders and the New Jersey Devils. Last season New York was 52-24-6 with 110 points, finishing second in the Metropolitan division, six points behind Carolina.
As was the case last season, the New York Rangers will go as far as goalie Igor Shesterkin can carry them. Last season's Vezina Trophy winner was 36-13-4 with 2.04' goals against average and .935 save percentage. New York added center Vincent Trochek during the offseason as well as goalies Jaroslav Halak and Louis Domingue. Returning to run the offense will be veterans Chris Crowder, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zinbanejad.
The New York Islanders will also complete their pre-season schedule when hosting the Rangers on Saturday. The Islanders are 3-2 following a 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. The Islanders have won each of their last three preseason games. Last season the Islanders finished fifth in the Metropolitan division at 37-35-10 on 84 points and missed the postseason.
One of the big keys to the New York Islanders' this season will be the scoring of center Mathew Barzal, who last season had 59 points including 15 goals and 44 assists. The Islanders will also need strong play in goal from the duo of Ilya Sorkin and Semyon Varlamov. Sorokin is the No. 1 goalie and finished last season 26-18-8 with a 2.40 goals against average and .925 save percentage. Other players that must step up their scoring include Brock Nelson, Will Oliver Wahlstrom and Anthony Beauvillier.
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