Isles beat Rangers in first of eight meetings in 2021
NEW YORK » Brock Nelson, Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal scored in the opening period and the New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers 4-0 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots for his 28th career shutout and third with the Islanders. Defenseman Nick Leddy added two assists.
Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves as the Rangers fell in the first of eight games between the rivals. Alexis Lafreniere, the first overall selection of the 2020 NHL d, made his debut and recorded one shot in 15:27 minutes of ice time.
Barzal, 23, capped off the three-goal first period with an impressive stick-handling maneuver before sending the puck past Shesterkin. The Islanders signed Barzal to a three-year contract earlier this month worth a reported $21 million. The center has led the Islanders in scoring in each of his three NHL seasons.
Nelson scored his first of the season 2:33 into the first period on the power play. Anthony Beauvillier’s shot deflected off Adam Fox’s skate to Nelson in the slot for an early Islanders lead.
Shesterkin became the first goaltender other than Henrik Lundqvist to start a season opener for the Rangers since Kevin Weekes in October 2005. Lundqvist signed with the Washington Capitals in October, but is unable to play this season due to a heart condition. CAPITALS 6, SABRES 4 » T.J. Oshie had a goal and two assists in Peter Laviolette’s debut as Washington’s coach and the Capitals opened the season with a win over Buffalo.
Jakub Vrana stripped Eric Staal of the puck in front of Buffalo’s net and scored 46 seconds into the third period to preserve the win after the Caps were in jeopardy of squandering a 4-1 lead. Vrana’s goal came 26 seconds after defenseman Jake McCabe cut Buffalo’s deficit to 4-3 by roofing a shot from the right point.
John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and assist each and Brenden Dillon also scored for the Capitals.
Alex Ovechkin set up the first two goals in a game Washington never trailed.
Blackhawks place Toews on long-term IR
CHICAGO » Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews will miss at least 10 games and 24 days after the team placed him on longterm injured reserve because of an unspecified illness.
Toews, 32, announced prior to the start of training camp last month he was experiencing symptoms that left him feeling “drained and lethargic.”
There has been no word from Toews or the team on the cause and there is no timetable for his return. The veteran center has asked for privacy while he focuses
on his health.
Toews helped lead the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup championships from 2010 to 2015. He had 18 goals and 42 assists in 70 games last season and was one of the team’s best defensive forwards and face-off options.
“Everybody would be really happy to have him back,” forward Dominik Kubalik said. “But his health is the highest (priority). He just needs to focus on his health. Hopefully, he’s gonna be back as soon as possible.”
The team also announced Thursday defenseman Brent Seabrook has a lower back injury and moved forward Kirby Dach to long-term IR because of a wrist injury.