Alexis Lafreniere's hat trick leads Rangers over Islanders for fourth straight win

After he had failed to score a goal Sunday, despite getting two breakaways and several other odd-man rushes, Alexis Lafreniere told Newsday on Monday he had “too many chances not to score.’’

He made up for it on Tuesday night.

Lafreniere had three goals — two of them empty-netters to break the game open late — and newcomer Oliver Bjorkstrand had his first two goals as a Ranger as the Blueshirts beat the Islanders, 5-2, at Madison Square Garden.

The game marked the return of Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov after missing nearly two years following two partial knee replacements. Varlamov allowed three goals, making 19 saves on 22 shots.

For the Rangers, the victory extended their winning streak to four games. They are 4-1-0 and haven’t lost since opening night in Boston last Tuesday. They lead the NHL with eight points. The Islanders are 1-2-0.

“We were chasing the game. All night we were behind,’’ said Islanders coach Pete DeBoer. “We really pushed in the second [period]. We had a chance to take the lead, that maybe changes the game. We had at least two good looks when it was 2-2, to get in front for the first time all night. And we didn’t take advantage.”

The Islanders actually took the first five shots of the game, and Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin (17 saves) had to be sharp to keep them at bay, until the Rangers took the lead on their first shot of the game, by Bjorkstrand at 6:40 of the first period. He had just come off the bench on a line change and went straight to the right wing faceoff dot, where he one-timed a pass from Lafreniere over Varlamov’s left shoulder.

Lafreniere made it 2-0 25 seconds into the second period, when he took a home run pass from Mika Zibanejad up the left wing, and beat Varlamov to the glove side with a shot from the left faceoff dot.

But the Islanders tied it 2-2 before the period was five minutes old, on goals 1:56 apart by Bo Horvat and Calum Ritchie. Horvat scored on a power play at 1:56, sneaking down to the left circle to take a pass from Matias Maccelli and beat Shesterkin, and Ritchie tied it at 4:52 when Brayden Schenn found him all alone in the slot.

But Bjorkstrand’s second of the game, at 17:07 of the second, on a power play, put the Rangers back in front. Gabe Perreault fished the rebound of a tip-in try by Will Cuylle out of the corner, wheeled, and whipped a cross-ice pass to Bjorkstrand, alone at the left faceoff dot. Bjorkstrand caught the pass, skated a few strides to the hash mark, and whipped a wrist shot past Varlamov, who was starting his first game since Nov. 29, 2024.

After that, the Rangers played a clean third period to hold on for the win.

“I think we’re playing well, and we’re playing pretty good with the lead right now,’’ Lafreniere said. “You know, that third period, I don’t think we gave up anything really. So that’s — I feel like we’re playing winning hockey, especially with the lead.’’

Ritchie saw it differently.

“The third period we had to get on them more,’’ he said. “We didn’t do that, and we didn’t generate enough in the third to get the win. I thought we were kind of building off something in the second, and we just kind of fell flat in the third.”

The Rangers, who have started the season with five games in eight days, now have the next couple of days off before playing in Washington on Friday. The Islanders play Thursday night at UBS Arena against Chicago.

The Rangers, who lost all four meetings against the Islanders last season, and who started last season 0-6-1 at home, including being shut out in the first three games and five of the first seven, are now 3-0 at home and feeling good about themselves.

“We’re consistent with our effort,’’ said Mika Zibanejad, who had three assists. “Other than maybe the Boston game . . . But I think we’re playing hard. I feel like we’re on the same page, and even a night like tonight, I felt like in the second they got their goals and a little bit of momentum. I felt like we didn’t just collapse like we’ve maybe done in the past . . . We just worked ourselves back into it.”

Notes & quotes: Rangers center Cole Beaudoin, 20, who was called up from Hartford earlier in the day, made his NHL debut. He played 9 minutes, 57 seconds, including one shift on the penalty kill, and won 6 of 11 faceoffs. He had three hits and was a plus-1. Beaudoin was part of the return when the Rangers dealt Vincent Trocheck to Utah in July.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.