When the NHL rolled out the welcoming mat at Met Life Stadium for the 2024 Stadium Series, they got exactly what they wanted in the second game of a big weekend.

After the Devils took care of the Flyers on Saturday night, this afternoon was all about the historic rivalry between the Rangers and Islanders.

For over 50 years, the blood rivals have battled for supremacy in New York City. Prior to the start of the game, hockey legends Mark Messier and Bryan Trottier came out hand in hand to drop the ceremonial first puck at center ice before over 79,000 excited fans who braved ice cold temperatures to witness the marquee event.

Introduced by Jets and Giants players, the Rangers and Islanders came out to the ice at The Meadowlands. A football field was successfully turned into a hockey rink by dedicated workers who deserve plenty of recognition. They’re the biggest reason the event was a rousing success.

Before they made their entrance with NYPD police officers in a fitting tribute, the Rangers were visited by guest speakers Messier and Stanley Cup winning coach Mike Keenan in the locker room. Keenan and Messier gave excellent speeches about what it means to represent the city and be successful.

The best part was when NYPD police captain Conor McDonald and Mom Patti Ann introduced the starting lineup. It was enough to give you chills. The Steven McDonald Award is given annually to the New York Rangers player who goes above and beyond the call of duty.

Former NYPD patrolman Steven McDonald remains an important part of the Rangers organization. After being paralyzed from the neck down on July 12, 1986, he battled for over 30 years as a quadriplegic in a wheelchair who forgave his attacker. He passed away in 2017. His spirit lives on through wife Patti Ann and son Conor. The Rangers have given out the prestigious award near the conclusion of every season since 1987-88.

The Rangers couldn’t have picked anyone better to handle the pregame festivities. If you watched the video above, you’ll appreciate how excited the players were during the intro of the starting lineup. They were energized.

Promising Start Turns Ugly

Once the puck was dropped, the Rangers got off to a promising start, thanks to some hard work from the third line. After taking the puck from Jonny Brodzinski, Kaapo Kakko made a good cross ice pass to an open Erik Gustafsson for an open shot that snuck through Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin with Will Cuylle screening in front. The goal came less than 90 seconds into the contest.

Only a second later, Rangers rookie forward Matt Rempe, who made his NHL debut, squared off with Islanders enforcer Matt Martin at center ice. Rempe got off some good shots early. He used his size to his advantage over the smaller Martin, who came on late before both went off for fighting majors. It was a spirited bout that pumped up the crowd.

Despite Rempe impressing his new teammates with the fight, it was the Islanders who grabbed the momentum. Brock Nelson got free from Ryan Lindgren in the slot to tie the score less than three minutes later. Scott Mayfield set up the goal with a good feed that Nelson buried past Igor Shesterkin for his 23rd goal of the season.

It didn’t get any better for the Rangers. After Mayfield was escorted off for boarding Barclay Goodrow from behind, Alexis Lafreniere negated the power play by taking down Casey Cizikas to lead to a four-on-four. On the next shift, Bo Horvat took a Noah Dobson feed and got behind K’Andre Miller. He then beat Shesterkin from distance to the blocker to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead.

Almost immediately, the Islanders cashed in on a power play when Dobson and Nelson combined to set up Mat Barzal for a power-play goal that suddenly made it 3-1. The goal came only 16 seconds after Horvat’s.

At that point, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette had seen enough. He took a timeout to try to regroup his team. Although they picked it up a little bit, they didn’t get enough shots on Sorokin. The Islanders controlled most of the play by outshooting the Rangers 18-7. Shesterkin made a few key saves to keep them down two at the end of the period.

Trocheck Sparks Better Second Period

Initially, the second period didn’t start well. An ill-advised Chris Kreider hooking minor behind the Islanders’ net put the Rangers in a three-goal hole quickly. Over a minute into the frame, Pierre Engvall had his shot tipped in by Islanders captain Anders Lee to put them up 4-1.

However, it would also be Lee who took a slashing minor on Mika Zibanejad that gave the Rangers some life. Facing the league’s worst ranked penalty kill, they took advantage. Adam Fox passed across for an Artemi Panarin one-timer that Vincent Trocheck redirected past Sorokin to give the Rangers a much needed power-play goal. That cut the deficit to two with still over 14 minutes left in the period.

The game remained 4-2 for a while. Both sides generated scoring chances. However, the goalies were good. In particular, Shesterkin improved his play. He came up with several big saves to give the Rangers a chance at the comeback. He stopped 16 of 17 shots in the period.

With the Rangers still trailing by two late in the period, a strong shift from Lafreniere led to Trocheck’s second goal of the game. Following a Ryan Lindgren shot, an aggressive Lafreniere kept the play alive. The puck came to Trocheck, who was able to bat it out of midair over the goal line to cut the deficit to 4-3 with 1:36 left.

Lindgren Goes Down on Romanov Goal

At the start of the third period, an unfortunate turn of events led to the Rangers falling back behind the Islanders by two. Defenseman Ryan Lindgren went down on a follow-through in the corner. A Dobson shot came right to Alexander Romanov for an easy goal that put them ahead 5-3 with over 18 minutes remaining.

Lindgren was escorted off the ice to the Rangers locker room. He didn’t return. Afterward, Laviolette didn’t provide any update. It won’t be known if Lindgren will miss any time. The Rangers host the Stars on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. They then visit the Devils this Thursday.

Furious rally forces overtime

Following the Romanov tally, it was the Rangers who raised their level. They carried most of the play with their forecheck. For a while, it didn’t look like they’d get rewarded. However, they benefitted from some undisciplined Islanders’ penalties. A furious rally forced overtime.

With Trocheck and Romanov off for matching roughing minors, Barzal hooked down Miller to give the Rangers a power play. On it, Trocheck returned from the penalty box. He fed Panarin up top for a wrist shot that Kreider tipped in for his fourth goal over the last two games. His 28th of the season came with 4:08 remaining in regulation. That made it a one-goal game.

Another Mayfield penalty this time for tripping Lafreniere proved costly for the Islanders. With 2:28 left, the Rangers lifted Shesterkin for an extra attacker. They had a six-on-four advantage. The big risk was that the Islanders could shoot for the empty net without having to worry about icing. Fortunately, they missed on their one attempt.

Finally, the Rangers got set up on the power play. Lafreniere came out with the puck and passed it to Fox, who quickly dished it across for a Zibanejad one-timer that tied the score with 1:29 left in regulation.

Suddenly, the game required overtime. It wouldn’t last long.

Panarin Wins It

On what can best be described as a gift, Dobson lost the puck in front of his own net. That allowed Panarin to steal the puck. With Dobson falling into the Islanders’ net to knock off it off, Panarin took a shot that deflected off both Dobson and Sorokin. The puck went over the goal line only 10 seconds into overtime.

The question was whether it counted. Initially, the refs waived it off. However, Panarin’s shot was the continuation of the play and went off two Islanders. According to the rules, the goal counts in that instance.

Following a video review in Toronto, they correctly ruled that Panarin had a good goal. He was awarded the overtime winner to give the Rangers an unbelievable 6-5 win in overtime.

The victory was their seventh in a row. It also marked the first time Laviolette won an outdoor game. Previously, he was 0-3-1. It was either the Rangers’ perfect record in outdoor games or Laviolette’s winless record on Sunday. Something had to give. It wasn’t pretty. But they got the win for their coach to improve to 5-0 in outdoor games.