Ascending Islanders seek season sweep of reeling Rangers

The New York Rangers rarely score against the New York Islanders and infrequently win on home ice.

Those are among the litany of reasons general manager Chris Drury recently announced the Rangers will attempt to retool their roster.

The Islanders hope to capitalize on the struggles of their biggest rival and complete a season sweep Thursday night when they visit the Rangers.

The Islanders have outscored the Rangers 12-2 in the first three meetings. The Isles coasted to a 5-0 rout at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 8, earned a 2-0 home win on Dec. 27 and scored twice in a span of 71 seconds late in the first period of Wednesday's 5-2 home win.

The Islanders' latest win saw 11 different players record a point, including newcomer Ondrej Palat, who scored a goal in the first period and set up another by Emil Heineman late in the second. Simon Holmstrom also scored and set up power-play goals by Palat and Mathew Barzal.

The Islanders are 10-6-1 in their past 17 games since dropping three straight Dec. 16-20.

"I think every game (from) here on out is so pivotal," Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock said. "We know it's going to be tight here on out. These games are big. Four-point games in our division, we want to (get) to the break strong. We've got to collect some points here. It's going to be tight. Every point matters."

The Rangers made their first trade since Drury's announcement on Jan. 16 when they dealt Carson Soucy to the Islanders, who sought another defenseman since losing Alexander Romanov to a season-ending shoulder injury.

On Wednesday, the Rangers held out Artemi Panarin for roster management purposes ahead of a possible trade between now and the March 6 deadline.

Panarin is in the final season of a seven-year, $81.5 million contract that includes a full no-movement clause. He will be an unrestricted free agent after the season and will be held out through at least the Olympic break if he does not get traded beforehand.

"I think it was just getting the info that he wasn't playing right before the game, you don't have a lot of time to talk about that kind of stuff, but I played with him for seven years," New York's Mika Zibanejad said. "We're all human beings at the end of the day, so this situation is really difficult.''

Panarin's potential trade and the retooling announcement is a result of the Rangers slipping to last place in the Eastern Conference, two years after winning the Presidents' Trophy and getting to Game 6 of the conference finals.

The Rangers are 2-8-1 in their past 11 games.

On Wednesday, Zibanejad and Taylor Raddysh scored in a game in which the Rangers finished with 16 shots on goal. Spencer Martin allowed five goals on 36 shots.

The Rangers are concluding the season series against the Islanders attempting to win consecutive home games for the first time this season. They are 6-13-4 at Madison Square Garden.

Before rallying for a 4-3 overtime win over the Boston Bruins on Monday, the Rangers dropped four straight home games - including an 8-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 14 that prompted Drury to announce a retool two days later.