The rivalry can’t be underestimated. At the same time, the importance of earning two points can’t be emphasized enough for either the Rangers or Islanders.
The teams open a home-and-home series at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night before concluding their season series Saturday afternoon at Barclays Center.
The Islanders had a season-high six-game winning streak snapped in Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to the Hurricanes at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum while the Rangers are returning from a winless three-game trip to Colorado, Arizona and Vegas, losing their fourth straight game, 4-2, to the Golden Knights on Tuesday night.