One team on a upswing and one headed in the opposite direction. Earlier in the season, it was the Rangers for the former and Islanders for the latter. Lately, that order has been reversed. The Islanders' 4-2 win over the Rangers has the Brooklyn-ers 4-0-1 in their last five while the Manhattan-ites are now 4-5-1 in their last 10 contests.

The main differences in the game were:

1) Jaroslav Halak once again outplayed Henrik Lundqvist, especially in the first period, when he made 16 of his 36 saves for the game.

2) Special teams. The weak Islanders PP went 1-2 with that John Tavares goal serving as the dagger in the third period while the Rangers went 0-for-6 on the man-advantage, blowing 9:26 of PPTOI, including a four-minute power play in the first period. On that four-minute advantage, the Rangers had nine shots, including many in close, but couldn't beat Halak.

3) The Klein-Skjei pairing was a tire fire. Klein was a -2 and was beaten wide creating the opportunity for Scott Mayfield's goal, though that one was on Lundqvist. His neutral zone outlet up the middle into neutral-zone traffic did not connect with Marek Hrivik, starting the play that resulted in the third goal of the contest, during which he got tangled with Lundqvist. Skjei was a -3, including the second goal, where he was battling in front and had the puck hit off him during its travels into the net, though Jason Chimera did push him backwards, helping the play. On that third goal, Shane Prince beat Skjei wide, after which Lundqvist attempted the pole check, which resulted in Andrew Ladd having a wide-open on which to score. That tally happened just 1:22 after Jimmy Vesey scored to cut the lead to 2-1 under a minute into the second period.

4) Injuries. Also without Mike Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich due to injuries and Michael Grabner, who was in Austria for his grandmother's funeral, the Rangers lost two players during the game. Rick Nash, the team's best all-around forward, “tweaked his groin” early in the second period, finishing a nine-second shift 6:38 into the period before going off and not returning. Nash will be evaluated today but it looks like he may miss Thursday's game against Winnipeg and possibly Friday's versus Chicago.

Matt Puempel took a stick to to the face from Brock Nelson at 13:17 of the first period, and after being down on the ice for a long time, he left the game and did not return. Puempel went through the concussion protocol and is believed to have a concussion, so he will miss those two games. New York will have to call up a forward. It could be Boo Nieves, Nicklas Jensen or even Tanner Glass.

5) Corsi be damned (sorry, couldn't resist). The struggling Rangers offense couldn't capitalize on a majority of even-strength zone time (50-40 attempts). The Rangers had 77 shot attempts (38 on goal, 28 blocked and 11 misses) while the Islanders had 44. The difference, as noted in pint one, was Halak. He was stalwart when needed while Lundqvist had at least one bad goal, the first one, where he was off the post and Mayfield beat him there. In addition, Hank allowed an unlucky one, the second goal scored by Jason Chimera that bounced off of bodies; a bad read one, the attempted poke check that lead to the Ladd score, though the D once again didn't help there, as. It's above; and a screened one, the Tavares goal where Marc Staal, offsetting his beautiful tally off the far post converting a 4-on-2, has to either fully turn and block the shot of get out of the way. Because by turning sideways, he completely screened Lundqvist.

6) Slumping forwards. As Larry Brooks noted, Mats Zuccarello, stoned three times by Halak on that first-period power play, has gone 10 straight games without a goal. J.T. Miller, who battled throughout in 21:42, has one goal in the past 10, though he has been bounced all over the place in the lineup. Neither Chris Kreider nor Derek Stepan, save for their game Saturday, has been remotely productive enough. Brandon Pirri has disappointed, Grabner's regressed, as expected, as there was no way he could keep him that pace, and the offense overall has gotten too pass reliant, always looking for the highlight play and open shot rather than continuously getting pucks on the net.

If there was one positive, the Rangers compete level was a lot better. They took what the Islanders had to offer and didn't back down. The Islanders punished the Rangers physically but the Blueshirts did keep coming. It's a small silver lining, but right now, I will take what I can get. But Lundqvist's continual poor play along with the other pints I noted above resulted in the loss. While it may be a bit early to say the team is at a cross roads, the lack of depth up front and struggling offense, some of which goes hand in hand, means that you need your goalie to steal some games.

I don't want to hear the comments of well the Rangers aren't scoring so what do you expect. That's garbage and BS. It's a team game. When one part falters, the other has to step up. Lundqvist and Antti Raanta, who will play Thursday, has to carry the team. I have confidence in Raanta and think he will play well Thursday and I would go with him Friday if he does. That confidence level is much less on Hank and as I have said before, I would sit him for a bit, allowing him to work with Benoit Allaire, and then get him back in between the pipes.

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