NEW YORK _ Among the many traits the Rangers and Islanders have in common is that there is no way to define what each of them is or predict what they will be this season. Neither is a favorite to win the division but both believe they can advance further in the playoffs than they did this past spring.
One thing became clear right away, though, on Opening Night: The Rangers will not be shut out against the Islanders again. Three goals in the third period at Madison Square Garden gave the Rangers a 5-3 win Thursday, ensuring that they will not be 0-3-1 against the Islanders as they were last year.
Chris Kreider is among the reasons the Rangers are hopeful that this year will be different altogether. They think he is ready to break out, the way he broke past the Islanders' defense on a pass from Pavel Buchnevich. He beat Jaroslav Halak, who had won his previous eight starts against Henrik Lundqvist. Brandon Pirri, a first-year Ranger and another reason for optimism, added a power-play goal at 16:11 and J.T. Miller scored into an empty net before Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders
The Islanders, with several holes to fill and some new additions, also have questions to answer and they had their moments, rallying to tie early in the third. But it was not their night.
One of the things that has made the rivalry so distinct and familiar is that from the start, each team has had players, coaches and executives who have been on the other team. "Rangers vs. Islanders," the book by Stan Fischler and Zachary Weinstock released on Tuesday, tells of the first season _ Islanders defenseman Arnie Brown, a former Ranger, admitting before a game at the Garden, "The Rangers will probably beat us."
No one spoke like that for long, of course. Islanders-Rangers takes on meaning that doesn't wear off. The day on which former Islander Michael Grabner signed with the Rangers this past summer, his first tweet was this: "Excited to be back in New York once again ... this time on the other side of the battle."
This time, the swift winger and penalty-kill specialist drew a roar from Rangers fans when he scored the first goal of the season at 13:41 of the first period. With the Islanders' top line caught in the offensive zone _ John Tavares and Andrew Ladd collided _ the Rangers moved the puck up ice quickly and Grabner knocked home a rebound.
Mats Zuccarello made it 2-0 at 17:41 of the second period, flicking a backhander toward the slot, where it caromed off Ryan Strome's skate and past Halak.
Before four minutes passed in the third, the Islanders tied it. Nick Leddy ripped a shot past Henrik Lundqvist, inside the left post only 47 seconds into the period. Then the revised fourth line struck. Completing a 4-on-2 after intercepting Pavel Buchnevich's pass, Cal Clutterbuck tapped home a pass from Nikolay Kulemin (Matt Martin's replacement) at 4:04.
Buchnevich made an expert long pass at 9:45, springing Kreider, whose speed put him behind Travis Hamonic and in position to break the tie with a backhander.
It all was quite an icebreaker for the 2016-17 version of the rivalry that ended with some frayed feelings last season. Recall that Rangers coach Alain Vigneault chided his Islanders counterpart Jack Capuano for not going all out to win the final game of the regular schedule. The Islanders lost, finished fourth and got to play (and defeat) the Panthers in the first round while the Rangers had to face the eventual Stanley Cup champion Penguins.
At the time, Capuano fired back, saying, "I like AV, I respect him. He's a good guy and a great coach. ... Maybe I should take a page out of his book."
Thursday night was the first meeting since that episode, and there were more hard feelings. Tavares took a whack on the hand from Miller and took two late penalties. It leads you to believe there will be more games like this first one.
