Alexis Lafreniere finished off his third career hat trick by scoring twice into an empty net and added an assist as the host New York Rangers pulled away for a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
The winger scored New York’s second goal in the opening minute of the second period before scoring twice in 32 seconds after the Islanders pulled goalie Semyon Varlamov in the third period.
Lafreniere also set up Oliver Bjorkstrand’s first tally in the opening half of the first period as the Rangers won their fourth straight and improved to 3-0-0 at home for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
Lafreniere had his second career four-point game. His other was a five-point performance when he compiled a hat trick and two assists against the host Arizona Coyotes on March 30, 2024.
Bjorkstrand scored a pair of impressive goals on similar plays from the right circle, and his tiebreaking power-play goal with 2:53 left in the second gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead.
Bjorkstrand posted his 22nd career multi-goal game and third at Madison Square Garden after also achieving the feat for the Seattle Kraken and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Mika Zibanejad contributed two assists and goalie Igor Shesterkin made 17 saves, including a glove save on rookie Victor Eklund with 2:49 remaining.
Bo Horvat scored a power-play goal and Calum Ritchie tallied a score nearly two minutes later in the second period for the Islanders, who swept the four-game season series last season.
Varlamov stopped 19 shots in his first action since Nov. 29, 2024. He had not played since then because he underwent surgery on each knee.
With 13:20 remaining in the first, Bjorkstrand buried a one-timer over Varlamov after Lafreniere stole the puck from Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer near the right corner. After Lafreniere finished off a partial breakaway, Bjorkstrand parked himself in the circle, waited for a cross-ice pass from Lafreniere and lifted the puck over Varlamov.
Before Bjorkstrand scored again, Horvat leaned into a one-timer after getting a cross-ice feed from Matias Maccelli to make it 2-1 with 17:04 remaining. Ritchie tied it nearly two minutes later by getting in alone against sprawled-out Shesterkin and tucking it by his pad.
