This wasn’t so much about the offensive zone, defensive zone or even the neutral zone. This was about the comfort zone the Rangers were never permitted to reach by the Islanders in this first Battle of New York at the Coliseum in nearly five years.
There was little open ice and no time to make plays in a 3-2 Rangers win that was contested in tight spaces, in front of both nets — well, Alex Georgiev’s, for the most part — and along the boards and in the corners.
Indeed, following the track meet Monday at the Garden in which the Blueshirts prevailed 6-2 in the first half of the set, this one was played on the Islanders’ terms.