A day later, there’s still been some discussion over how last night’s game ended between the Rangers and Islanders at UBS Arena.

For the Manhattan side of the historic rivalry, frustration boiled over following a 4-2 loss to the little brother in Long Island. A missed call with just over 10 seconds remaining didn’t go over well with the Rangers.

On a play behind the Islanders’ net, Vincent Trocheck was fouled from behind by Noah Dobson. The Islanders defenseman gave him a shot that sent Trocheck down to the ice. He coughed up the puck, which led to Anders Lee scoring into an open net to seal a big win for the Islanders. They remained third in the Metropolitan Division with 87 points.

After Lee’s goal, Trocheck fumed at ref Kelly Sutherland. He wasn’t alone, either. Linemate Alexis Lafreniere also said something. Both got misconducts to end the night six seconds before the final buzzer sounded.

It’s understandable why Trocheck was upset. Dobson got away with one. It was either a cross-check or boarding minor penalty. If that’s called, the Rangers’ dangerous power play would’ve had a six-on-four for 10 to 11 seconds. There’s no guarantee they would’ve tied it. But you get why they had words with Sutherland, who didn’t have a particularly good game.

There’s too many instances when paid officials aren’t getting the calls right. This has been a common occurrence during the season. Even with video review, they don’t always interpret the rules correctly.

The Islanders could’ve been called for a couple of penalties late in regulation as they held on (held being the operative word) for dear life. They built a three-goal lead with a dominant first period in which the Rangers were missing in action.

Only 1:25 into the game, Mat Barzal was hooked down from behind by Adam Fox to negate a breakaway. He was awarded a penalty shot, making it the earliest one taken in Islanders’ franchise history. However, Barzal’s feeble attempt was eaten up by Igor Shesterkin.

Shesterkin’s big save early didn’t prevent the Islanders from storming the lethargic Blueshirts for three goals due to putrid defense. Mike Reilly had his shot bank in off of Ryan Lindgren’s skate to put them up 1-0 at 4:12.

A Dobson shot was tipped in by Bo Horvat eight and a half minutes later to make it 2-0. Less than two minutes later, the Rangers got caught scrambling around. That allowed Brock Nelson to find a wide open Kyle Palmieri in front for an easy tap in that made it 3-0.

Erik Gustafsson was caught out of position on the goal. He was on for two of the three Isles’ goals. A Laviolette favorite from his time spent in Washington, DC, Gustafsson’s game has slipped. Whether it’s partially due to a recent injury that kept him out for a few games, it’s hard to say. He’s a good skating defenseman who’s contributed well offensively. He’s not as consistent defensively.

As much as Laviolette loves what Gustafsson brings, he must consider super sub Zac Jones for the sixth spot on the Rangers’ defense. Jones has gotten exponentially better since the start of the season. The 23-year-old is a superb skater with good instincts who reads and reacts to plays well. Expect Gustafsson to start the postseason next week. If he struggles, Laviolette shouldn’t hesitate to play Jones.

As bad as they were in the first, you knew the Rangers would come back stronger. As has been their trademark, they responded well to adversity by scoring twice in a much better second period. The Islanders aided the comeback by taking penalties. That allowed the power play to go to work.

With Reilly off for interference, Mika Zibanejad set up Artemi Panarin for a shot pass that Chris Kreider tipped in past Semyon Varlamov for his 39th goal of the season. He’s now up to 110 power-play goals for his career – ranking second behind all-time franchise leader Camille Henry (116). Kreider recently passed Hall of Famer Rod Gilbert in a 5-2 home win over the Canadiens. He shows no signs of slowing down with a man up.

After failing to capitalize on a second straight power play, the Rangers took full advantage of a third in a row to pull within one. With Dobson off for delay of game, Adam Fox moved in and beat Varlamov with a wrist shot that had a double screen from both Kreider and Trocheck to make it 3-2 with 4:59 left in the second.

By that point, it looked like the Blueshirts would rally to tie it up. The Islanders had all kinds of problems clearing their zone. The Rangers applied heavy pressure for most of the remainder of the contest.

That included a 12-4 edge in shots during the third period. The Islanders went long stretches without any puck possession. They were frequently pinned in their zone by the Rangers. On one long shift, it looked like they were on a power play. However, they were unable to find the equalizer.

Varlamov made the key saves en route to being named the game’s first star with 31 stops on 33 shots.

The closest the Rangers came was when their best line had the Islanders on fumes. Panarin sent a shot that just missed wide late in regulation with Shesterkin on the bench. That was the opportunity.

The Islanders blocked a few shots to hang on. But not without some controversy. Why Sutherland didn’t make the obvious call on Dobson for decking Trocheck from behind we’ll never know. It was a horrible miss.

After the game, Laviolette overreacted to a play involving Adam Pelech and Zibanejad. They collided at center ice with Zibanejad getting the worst of it by going right into Pelech’s shoulder to go down with 11:09 remaining.

As Islanders coach Patrick Roy asserted, it was accidental. Not on purpose as Laviolette charged. Fortunately, Zibanejad was back on the bench set to return had the Rangers forced overtime. Jonny Brodzinski took some of his shifts along with Alex Wennberg. Both were effective.

So, too, was Kaapo Kakko, who looked visibly frustrated after having a shot snapped up by Varlamov. He’s shooting the puck more, tying with Fox for a team high five shots. They’re not going in. He’s playing with much more confidence. Hopefully, that will bode well for the playoffs.

The Rangers are one up on the Stars for the President’s Trophy. Each has three games remaining. With 110 points, the Blueshirts own the first tiebreaker due to three more regulation wins (42-39). They’re also three points ahead of both the Bruins and Hurricanes.

They’ll return to action on Thursday night when the fading Flyers visit Madison Square Garden.