Kreider strike propels Rangers past Islanders
NEW YORK -- Chris Kreider's breakaway goal midway through the third period helped propel the New York Rangers to a 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders in the season opener for both teams on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
Rookie Pavel Buchnevich earned his first NHL point on Kreider's goal with a long-distance slap pass that Kreider snagged out of the air before taking off for the slick backhand goal that broke a 2-2 tie at 9:45.
Brandon Pirri added an insurance goal for the Rangers on a power play with 3:49 remaining to restore the two-goal advantage. J.T. Miller shot a puck into an empty net with 2:23 remaining to make it 5-2.
Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders with 1:35 remaining to cut the lead to 5-3 and cap the scoring.
Michael Grabner and Mats Zuccarello gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead, but Nick Leddy and Cal Clutterbuck answered for the Islanders in the third period.
Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped 25 of 28 shots for the Rangers. Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak turned aside 35 shots.
Grabner and Zuccarello scored in each of the first two periods to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes.
A 4-on-2 rush led to Grabner's goal at 13:41 of the first period. Pirri fired a rocket that Halak stopped, but the rebound came to rest at the feet of Grabner, who slammed home the loose puck before Halak could locate it to make it 1-0.
Lundqvist made a brilliant save earlier in the period, pushing across his crease to deny a deflection by Andrew Ladd after a clever pass from Travis Hamonic.
A friendly bounce late in the second period extended the Rangers' lead to 2-0. Zuccarello was attempting to make a backhand pass across the slot, but the puck ricocheted off the skate of the Islanders' Ryan Strome and through the legs of Halak at 17:41.
Leddy cut the lead to 2-1 at the 47-second mark of the third period. He joined the attack, took a pass from Casey Cizikas and snapped a shot off the post and past Lundqvist .
Clutterbuck completed the third-period comeback 3:17 later when the Islanders converted another odd-man rush. Cizikas picked up his second assist by feeding Nikolay Kulemin, who slipped the puck toward the net for Clutterbuck's deflection from the doorstep that made it 2-2.
NOTES: The Rangers opened their season at home for the first time since 2007. ... Three players -- Islanders LW Anthony Beauvillier, Rangers RW Pavel Buchnevich and Rangers LW Jimmy Vesey -- made their NHL debuts. ... Islanders C Alan Quine, C Matthew Barzal and G Jean-Francois Berube were healthy scratches. ... Isles LW Eric Boulton is out with a lower-body injury. ... Rangers D Kevin Klein (back) did not play. ... Rangers D Dylan McIlrath, who played 34 games last season, was a healthy scratch along with C Josh Jooris. ... Rangers C Oscar Lindberg is expected to miss a month while recovering from offseason hip surgery.