In what amounted to the final tuneup before the regular season, the New York Rangers were outclassed by the New York Islanders in an ugly 5-2 preseason loss in Elmont, New York.

Facing a full Islanders lineup, the Rangers were outplayed by a significant margin. The only player who showed up was Igor Shesterkin. If not for his goaltending in the first two periods, things could’ve been even worse. He made some great saves to keep his team in it headed to the third. But it didn’t matter. Eventually, the Islanders got two more goals to win handily. They erased an early two-goal deficit.

Rangers coach Peter Laviolette inserted forgotten defenseman Matthew Robertson for the preseason finale. An injury early in training camp limited him to one full game. He got hurt in a previous appearance, which didn’t help his chances of making the roster. In 19 shifts that totaled 14:18 of ice time, he was up and down like the rest of the defense, which got exposed without injured starter Ryan Lindgren.

In desperate search for an answer to finding a suitable partner for Adam Fox, Laviolette tried both K’Andre Miller and then Braden Schneider. At least Miller looked like he’d played with Fox before. In the third, Schneider looked lost playing a different side. It was a failed experiment. Fortunately, we won’t have to see that pair from hell again. Speaking of which, Miller was back with Jacob Trouba for the last 20 minutes. He looked better with Fox, helping set up the Rangers’ only two goals.

With less than a week until the opening game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, it doesn’t look like Laviolette has a solution to the Lindgren problem. If he’s out for a while, there isn’t an ideal fit to play with Fox. If he wants to go with skill, then Miller can work. They certainly play well off one another and control play in the offensive zone. Defensively, that could be an adventure. Fox needs a more physical partner to be consistent in his end. Unless they decide to stick Connor Mackey on the first pair, that’s out. The only other option is veteran Chad Ruhwedel. But he’s better suited for a third pair role. He’s basically a depth defenseman who can fill in.

Both Mackey and Victor Mancini sat out. The organization will make a decision soon. If they wanted to get an idea of how weak the defense is, it was on full display on Friday night. Nobody played well. The Islanders skated circles around them. That included the forwards, who didn’t establish much at even strength. They were busy turning over pucks and being spectators.

Brodzinski and Fox Get On The Board

Despite the Islanders dictating play, they couldn’t beat Shesterkin early on. He made a lunging save from the seat of his pants to take away a sure goal. With the Rangers’ goalie taking care of business on one end, that allowed them to surprise Semyon Varlamov with two fluky goals.

Matt Rempe helped create the first one. While Fox and Miller combined to find Johnny Brodzinski for an innocent looking shot in the slot, Rempe was parked directly in front of Varlamov. He couldn’t see a thing. Brodzinski’s shot took a crazy hop in the air and somehow went in to give the Rangers the lead.

A couple of minutes later, Fox took a Miller feed up up top and threw the puck towards the net for Filip Chytil. Instead, it banked in off Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Offensively, Fox had a goal and assist. It was a rough go defensively later in the contest.

Horvat Scores on Power Play

With less than three minutes left in the first, Sam Carrick was called for cross-checking Noah Dobson. That put the Islanders on the power play. Bo Horvat scored a power play goal.

On the play, KHL import Maxim Tsyplakov made a good read after moving the puck down low to Mat Barzal. He immediately drove to the net to screen Shesterkin. Barzal found Horvat open for a one-timer in the slot that cut it to 2-1.

Strong Isles’ Second Ties it Up

In the first part of the second period, the play was pretty even. However, Robertson cross-checked Oliver Wahlstrom. The Rangers had a strong penalty kill. Following it, the Islanders grabbed the momentum from the power play. It became lopsided in their favor. A strong second allowed them to tie it up.

While the Blueshirts had all kinds of problems holding onto pucks, the Islanders swarmed them with a relentless attack. In particular, Barzal and Horvat dominated shifts at five-on-five. Playing alongside Anthony Duclair, they were dangerous throughout the game.

On some extended time in the offensive zone, Barzal used his speed to turn around Miller and Matt Rempe. When he got behind the net, the Rangers were running around. Barzal patiently waited to make a nice pass for an easy Horvat one-timer into an open net with Shesterkin out of position. That evened the score.

It was Rempe’s responsibility to stick with Horvat. Initially, he made a good switch. However, he allowed Horvat to drift into open space for the easy finish. Both Miller and Trouba were on for the goal against.

With less than a minute remaining in the period, Will Cuylle held Noah Dobson. That gave the Islanders another power play. Once again, Barzal made them pay. Duclair and he worked the puck behind the net to Tsyplakov. He wisely sent the puck off Miller and past Shesterkin to give the Islanders their first lead.

Barzal Caps A Big Night

Barzal capped a big night late in the third period. He scored on a breakaway and then set up Duclair. He recorded a goal and four assists for a five-point night. He and Duclair look to have good chemistry with Horvat. That could be a potent scoring line.

If Tsyplakov looks as capable as he does, then the Islanders could have an improved offense. Especially with Brock Nelson centering the second line. If you had one takeaway, they looked ready for the start of the season.

Disappointing Finish

The Rangers didn’t. They looked disjointed. There was hardly any sustained pressure. No line looked good. Rempe had a bad game. He looked slow and was sloppy defensively. Zibanejad did absolutely nothing. Has anyone seen Reilly Smith? Brennan Othmann played in place of Artemi Panarin. Even that line with Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere didn’t establish much.

Laviolette never tried anything different with the power play, either. Othmann couldn’t even get a shift on a five-on-four. Was it that important to play Brodzinski on the second unit? Even Cuylle would’ve been better.

It would be nice if there was some creativity. But we know there isn’t any room for Othmann or Brett Berard. Mancini is the best option to start in the top six. He won’t. He’ll be sent down. This is how the organization operates.

Having seen how out of sorts they looked without three regulars, maybe they won’t be great. We’ll see what happens once things get rolling.