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Within an hour after being drafted by the Islanders, Matthew Schaefer declared in an interview with former “Entourage” star Kevin Connolly, “We’re going to beat the Rangers every time we play them.”

Schaefer’s four-leg parlay cashed Thursday night, when he scored at Madison Square Garden to help the Islanders to a 2-1 defeat of the Rangers that marked their first time sweeping the season series since 2017-18.

“Getting drafted to this team, coming to play for the Islanders, I know there’s that big rivalry,” Schaefer said inside a packed visitors locker room after the fact. “Every game from here on out’s a playoff game, especially against the Rangers. It’s a big win for us.

“Like I said before, we want to beat them every time, and we want to keep doing that because I know it makes us happy, I know it makes our fans happy, and we get two points out of it.”

It’s the third time in the history of the rivalry that the Islanders have swept the season series, having also done so in 2015-16. It’s the first time they’ve won every game in regulation and the first time they’ve gone four full games against the Rangers without trailing.

That is sweet revenge after the Rangers swept the Islanders by a combined score of 23-5 a year ago, culminating in a 9-2 embarrassment at UBS Arena that marked a low point for the Isles.

“I think we owed them one,” captain Anders Lee said. “Last year didn’t go our way. I think we evened it up.”

Since then, it has been all Islanders, starting with the lottery balls dropping in perfect sequence for their 3.5 percent chance at winning the No. 1 overall pick, and the rights to draft Schaefer. Had they beaten the Rangers just once last season, the two teams’ lottery odds would have been reversed, and he might have been skating for the other team Thursday.

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• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NHL STANDINGS AND ISLANDERS STATS

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Instead, Schaefer was making their lives miserable — and, in the latest ignominy in what has been a veritable parade of them for the Rangers, so too was Carson Soucy.

Soucy, who scored four goals in 62 games across parts of two seasons with the Blueshirts before being traded to the Island this week, was not acknowledged on the scoreboard in his return to the Garden. He served up some revenge by lighting the lamp in his second game as an Islander, squirting a shot from the left point through Jonathan Quick’s pads to open the scoring at 17:18 of the second period.

On a night in which it was all too evident that both teams had played 24 hours prior, that seemed to give the Islanders a bit of a jolt. Schaefer’s goal came under two minutes later, as the 18-year-old whipped in a shot that beat Quick short side through Simon Holmstrom’s screen.

His 14th goal of the season broke a tie with Bobby Orr for second on the all-time defenseman goal scoring list for 18-year-olds.

“Who’s that?” Schaefer joked about Orr, who made his debut 41 years before he was born.

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• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NHL STANDINGS AND RANGERS STATS

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The Rangers did not merely lie down from there. Mika Zibanejad’s one-timer from the left circle cut the lead to 2-1 early in the third period.

The game, which had been a dreary affair, creaked its way into life from there, and the Rangers were suddenly bearing down on Ilya Sorokin. The netminder twice stopped Gabe Perreault on grade A chances at the doorstep.

“It’s frustrating, for sure,” said J.T. Miller, having been the victim of Sorokin on a second-period slot one-timer and having drawn iron in the game’s opening minutes. “At some point, it’s hard to come up with answers other than put the puck in the net more often.”

The Islanders, who kept pace with the Penguins to stay tied on points — though behind on percentage — for second in the Metro, simply have more to play for than their counterparts right now. The most interesting thing happening for the last-place Rangers is up in Chris Drury’s box, as the team president and general manger tries to navigate a landing spot for Artemi Panarin.

On nights like this one, that seems to make all the difference.

“It was not our best game of the season, but that’s what good teams do,” coach Patrick Roy said. “They find ways to win.”

For a second straight game, the Nashville Predators failed to get through the first minute of overtime, falling to the New Jersey Devils, 3-2, on Thursday in extra time at the Prudential Center in Newark.

On Tuesday, the Predators dropped another 3-2 result in overtime as David Pastrnak scored 15 seconds into the period. 

The Predators have now lost five of their last six and three straight. 

Against New Jersey, after failing to connect on their chance in front of the Devils net, New Jersey broke the other way and saw captain Nico Hischier go bar down on Justus Annunen to end the game 42 seconds into overtime.

The Predators jumped ahead first as Michael McCarron scored in the first period, putting away the puck in a net-mouth scramble and giving Nashville a 1-0 lead. It was his third goal of the year. 

Jonathan Marchessault recorded the primary assist and now has three points in four games.

New Jersey's Dougie Hamilton scored the lone goal in the second period to knot the game up at two. 

Filip Forsberg gave the Predators the lead back off of his 20th goal of the season, scoring off a quick pass from Adam Wilsby.

With the goal, Forsberg became sixth all-time for career goals by a Swedish-born player, recording 338 and breaking a tie with Henrik Zetterberg. 

Halfway through the third, Jesper Bratt tied the game at three. Nashville did have a power play for 10 minutes, but failed to convert. 

Annunen made 32 saves on 35 shots in the result. Nashville was outshot, 35-29. 

The Predators drop their sixth overtime game of the season but earn a point in the effort, sitting at 54 total points.

They are three points outside of a Wild Card spot, but that gap will likely widen as the San Jose Sharks (57 points) have an early first-period lead on the Edmonton Oilers. 

The Predators will face the New York Islanders next on Saturday at 6 p.m. CST at UBS Arena. It will wrap up a three-game road trip as the Predators return to Nashville on Monday against the St. Louis Blues. 

NEW YORK (AP) — Carson Soucy scored against the team that traded him 72 hours earlier, Matthew Schaefer got the 14th goal of his stellar rookie year and the New York Islanders defeated the Rangers 2-1 on Thursday night.

Soucy became the first player to score for the Rangers and the Islanders at Madison Square Garden in the same season. The Islanders swept the back-to-back set between the crosstown rivals after winning 5-2 at home on Wednesday night.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 20 of 21 shots to pick up his 18th victory in 32 starts this season. Schaefer, the first pick in the draft last June, broke a tie with Hall of Famer Bobby Orr for the second-most goals by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history.

Schaefer’s goal came 1 minute, 35 seconds after Soucy beat former teammate Jonathan Quick short side from a tight angle. Soucy was playing just his second game with the Islanders since they gave up a third-round pick to get him in just the fourth trade between the New York teams and first since 2010.

Mika Zibanejad scored on the power play and Quick allowed two goals on 21 shots in his eighth appearance in 12 games since Igor Shesterkin was sidelined because of a lower-body injury. The long-term absences of Shesterkin and top defenseman Adam Fox exacerbated what was already a rough season for the Rangers, who recently signaled they are beginning a retooling process.

In line with that, they began sitting leading scorer Artemi Panarin rather than risking an injury that could prevent trading him before the March 6 deadline. Panarin is a pending unrestricted free agent whom the Rangers informed they were not re-signing.

The Islanders, who have won three in a row as they aim to make the playoffs, were without fourth-line center Casey Cizikas because of illness. Maxim Shabanov took his spot in the lineup.

Up next

Islanders: Host Nashville on Saturday night.

Rangers: Visit Pittsburgh on Saturday.

The Buffalo Sabres are in a position to do some buying at the 2026 NHL trade deadline. The Atlantic Division club currently holds a playoff spot and has a good chance of snapping its 14-year postseason drought, so they should not be afraid to be buyers.

The Sabres could use another impactful right-shot defenseman, and the St. Louis Blues have an interesting option worth considering in Justin Faulk.

Faulk is one of several Blues players currently in the rumor mill as they look to shake up their roster. With this, the Sabres should be open to kicking tires on the veteran defenseman.

If the Sabres landed Faulk, he would give them a very solid top-four defenseman for their right side. This would be excellent for the Sabres, as he would certainly strengthen their blueline if acquired. 

Faulk would also be a good veteran to have around for the Sabres' young players. This would be a nice bonus for a Sabres club that is looking to take that next step and officially cement itself as a playoff team. 

Faulk would be more than a rental for the Sabres, too, as he has a $6.5 million cap hit until the end of next season. With this, he would have the potential to benefit Buffalo beyond this season, which adds to his appeal. 

In 53 games this season with the Blues, Faulk has recorded 11 goals, 14 assists, and 25 points. 

Pregame

New lineup for the Penguins, Ilya Solovyov makes his Pittsburgh debut, Rutger McGroarty is back from the AHL to get back in the absence of Bryan Rust (suspension). Arturs Silovs gets the call in the net.

Lined up.#LetsGoPenspic.twitter.com/riMgwsl3gB

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 29, 2026

First period

Chicago starts the game with their third line, so Dan Muse elects to put his fourth line out to match for a curious opening faceoff. No Sidney Crosby and Connor Bedard squaring up right off the bat.

Sloppy and slow start for the Penguins. Ben Kindel takes a penalty six minutes in, the Blackhawks get a lot going on the power play but don’t score (Bedard dents the crossbar with a shot to come close). It keeps building, Ryan Greene pulls up and hits Connor Murphy with a pass. The defender takes a shot, Kris Letang backs all the way into Silovs, which couldn’t have helped matters. 1-0 Chicago.

#5 is right on target🎯 pic.twitter.com/VL7tsAoFBI

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 30, 2026

Pittsburgh gets a spark from their sparkplug fourth line. Blake Lizotte might have got away with a trip (surely the only thing a Penguin player got away with in the first period, considering they ended up in the penalty box four times in the first 20 minutes) and that opening is all they need. Noel Acciari shoots, Connor Dewar eventually finds the rebound, wheels out into a shooting area and fires the puck in for his 12th goal of the year. 1-1 game.

HOW DEW YOU LIKE THAT FOURTH LINE?! 💪 pic.twitter.com/zN4c4SV0na

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 30, 2026

The refs make it up to Chicago by giving them their second power play of the game on the next shift. This one isn’t as good. Two coincidental minors later the period comes to an end. Not a pretty sight for the Pens still looking to get their legs back under them from the long road trip, but they get out of the first period even at 1-1.

Second period

The Pens get to work, McGroarty causes mayhem in the crease, Chicago can’t clear a little later and Anthony Mantha feeds Ben Kindel in the middle of the ice. Kindel hesitates on the shot and gets goalie Arvid Soderblom to think high glove side. That leaves a lot open five hole. 2-1 Pens.

TEENAGE TALENT. pic.twitter.com/UwKth573ca

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 30, 2026

History strikes – kinda. For the first time in the last six periods, the Penguins are awarded a power play. They look out of practice and don’t get much going.

The Pens get a pretty goal on the rush. Parker Wotherspoon stands up Tyler Bertuzzi, blocking his attempt as the hit gets delivered. The puck rolls to Evgeni Malkin who is off to the races. Malkin pulls up with a spinning backhand centering pass to Egor Chinakhov. Chinakhov blows by Artom Levshunov and lifts the puck past Soderblom. 3-1.

EGOR = ELECTRIC. pic.twitter.com/3EwqHp4Qfe

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 30, 2026

31 seconds later, Pittsburgh strikes again. Kindel puts a great pass for a streaking Mantha for a breakaway. In a move that would make Mario proud, Mantha feints a forehand shot, Soderblom bites and it’s an easy finish to the backhand. 4-1 game just like that.

30 seconds later, Anthony Mantha scores, making it 4-1 Penguins 🤯 pic.twitter.com/0mT3ExGZkq

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) January 30, 2026

There’s blood in the water, Pittsburgh gets another before intermission. McGroarty was causing more mayhem in the crease, Mantha found the loose puck and sent it back to the point for Solovyov. Solovyov quickly bumped it over for Ryan Shea to hammer. It finds its mark. 5-1 game.

AND NOW RYAN SHEA JOINS THE SCORING PARTY

THAT'S A 4-GOAL PERIOD FOR THE PENGUINS pic.twitter.com/6xorjoIW3J

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) January 30, 2026

It took 20 minutes for Pittsburgh to get their legs back, they found them in the second and exposed Soderblom as the backup goalie he is, while throwing 23 (count ’em, 23!) shots on goal in the second period alone. Four goals in the middle frame opens up a sizeable 5-1 lead.

Third period

The Blackhawks look like they are ready to get out of town, only one shot on goal in the first 14 minutes of the period. The Pens keep going, eventually the fourth line crashes the net, going crazy to smack another one home. Dewar gets there to do it for his second goal of the night. 6-1.

Connor Dewar scores AGAIN‼️

The Chicago Blackhawks seem to be handling their 6-1 deficit well 🤣 pic.twitter.com/qeOdpUkxfM

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) January 30, 2026

That wakes Bedard up, at least. He comes down on the rush and lets Brett Kulak slide himself completely out of position. Bedard has all day to pick a spot and snipe Silovs high to the glove. 6-2 game.

What a goal by Connor Bedard. #Blackhawkspic.twitter.com/1Fdl7s70xI

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 30, 2026

Silovs actually has to make one more save on a good chance from in close, then things settle down and the teams ease onto the final whistle.

Some thoughts

• One of the trickle down effects of Bryan Rust’s suspension is that Egor Chinakhov is now on the top power play. Has shades of Jared McCann 2021 with that left handed option on the left side ready to fire that shot short-side.
• The biggest impact of no Rust was Justin Brazeau moving up to the top line. He looked mostly in the way, isn’t easy to play with Crosby and the lack of familiarity was on display. Will be interesting to see if they give that more time to find more, Crosby rotated in with Malkin a couple times in the third period, Brazeau still only played 12:45 at even strength despite the label of being a first line player.
• Keeping Mantha with Kindel proved to be worth whatever lead time the top line might need. They have something special going on. McGroarty didn’t register a point but was more visible in this game than he had been in several of his recent NHL showings too. Lots of chaos on that line, augmented by the skilled plays and finishes that Kindel and Mantha put on display.
• The second period was a feast like nobody’s business; Mantha scored three points while only taking six shifts that period. That’s like ‘your best night happening against a bad team’ in beer league type of production there.
• Speaks to just how dangerous and balanced the Penguins are when they score six goals on the night and their normal first power play (Crosby, Rust, Rakell, Malkin, Karlsson) have all of one assist on the night (Malkin’s pass to Chinakhov). Rust, of course, had a good reason for not producing any points since he wasn’t allowed to play, the rest of the most skilled and players relied on for offense weren’t required of much on this night. The third and fourth lines were more than Chicago could handle, combining for five goals between themselves.
• Solovyov first impressions: good night and opening game. Has some good size, did pin Bedard to the wall once in the first. By design it was a quiet introduction to ease him in, with the blowout allowing him to get more ice time in each period. Earned a primary assist with a basic play but good idea. Stats were 16:51, 3 shot attempts (neither on net, two blocked, one missed), 1 hit, 2 giveaways, 1 blocked shot. (The giveaways stand out a little, but were nothing egregious. The NHL did change the standard and frequency of how they record giveaways before last season, increasing it dramatically). Too early to say much, Solovyov was deferring to his partner Shea to do almost all the heavy lifting moving the puck, but hey, to be expected on the first night with a new team.
• It’s also too early to be watching the out of town scores for anything besides mostly fun, though it’s too much fun not to take a gander – especially when the Pens won their game without much despair. However, there was almost no help across the board so it’s not that much fun of an update besides holding serve. Carolina just scored three goals in the last two minutes to turn a regulation loss against Utah into a 5-4 win, the Pens remain six points out of first place as a result (with a game in hand). The Islanders defeated a hapless Ranger team to stay tied with the Pens (Pittsburgh does have two games in hand on NYI). The Devils earned an OT win, though they are seven points back of Pittsburgh. The Flyers lost again, which is always good, but losing relevance since they are way in the rearview mirror now (eight points back of Pittsburgh, who has one game in hand). Washington is currently tied.

Not the toughest of competition but the Pens can only play the team in front of them and handled business convincingly to keep their winning streak rolling. Next up is a visit from the Rangers on Saturday afternoon.

The Chicago Blackhawks played the second game of their two-game road trip on Thursday night. In the first one, they blew a 3-0 lead and lost to the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in a shootout. 

In this game against the Penguins, things started well for them as they took a 1-0 lead on a goal scored by Connor Murphy. A great defensive play by Frank Nazar led to a great rush where he and Ryan Greene made a play to find Murphy, who didn't miss with his snipe. 

Murphy, who is likely to be traded by Chicago ahead of the deadline, has been playing exceptionally well in recent weeks. Contending teams are going to take a look. 

After going up 1-0, however, the Penguins took over in a big way. They scored six unanswered goals to make it 5-1. Four of those goals came in the second period, which was a truly awful period for the Hawks. They will watch the tape and see that it was one of the worst periods of their entire season. 

Connor Bedard had a wonderful snipe late in the game to make it 6-2 at 14:31 of the third period, but the game was well out of reach at that point. That stood as the final score. 

Although nobody would ever say that Arvid Soderblom played well, but he was asked to face 44 shots. 23 of them came in that brutal middle period. He stayed in the game to eat the loss, with Spencer Knight projected to go on Friday. Soderblom gave up six, but most goalies in the league are not winning when they face 44 shots. 

The Penguins put up six against the Blackhawks, and Sidney Crosby didn't have a single point. Usually, that's a sign that a team played horrible hockey, which was the case for Chicago on Thursday night. 

This is the type of game you scrap if you're a young Blackhawks team. They have had a few of these stinkers in 2025-26, but they don't have much time to think about this one. Another game awaits one night later. 

Watch Every Chicago Goal

#5 is right on target🎯 pic.twitter.com/VL7tsAoFBI

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 30, 2026

what a shot😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/wFdpBijzwW

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 30, 2026

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Blackhawks are back in action on Friday night. The Columbus Blue Jackets will be at the United Center for a tilt to kick off the weekend. Puck drop is shortly after 7:30 PM CT. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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The San Jose Sharks look to take advantage of the market to enhance their team as they gear up for a hopeful playoff run.

According to San Jose Hockey Now, the Sharks have shown interest in winger Artemi Panarin, who will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Apparently the feeling is mutual. Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reported that Panarin would be interested in signing a contract extension with the Sharks.

Panarin is being held out of the lineup by the New York Rangers as they explore a trade and is not expected to play before the Olympic break. The retooling Rangers said they wouldn't be offering him an extension. Panarin, who has a no-movement clause, is reportedly exploring an extension as part of a trade.

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun said some teams view Panarin as a "rental but aren't ready to get into a big extension" while other teams believe the opposite.

"Have the Sharks talked to them? Yes," LeBrun said. "My understanding is the Sharks had a discussion with the Rangers. We know (Sharks general manager) Mike Grier and (Rangers general manager and president) Chris Drury have the history, (they) worked together in New York."

However, a skeptical LeBrun shut down rumors of a potential Sharks play for Panarin, due to their recent signings including re-signing 31-year-old forward Alexander Wennberg to a three-year contract worth $18 million on Jan. 4.

"But beyond that conversation, I'm not sure how serious San Jose wants to be here," LeBrun said. "You know, they just traded for (Kiefer) Sherwood. They just signed Wennberg. So I wouldn't have San Jose as a front-runner right now. We'll see."

More San Jose Sharks: Will Sharks' Kiefer Sherwood play tonight vs. Canucks?

The 34-year-old has accounted for 19 goals and 57 points in 52 games played.

Panarin, a two-time NHL First-Team All-Star, has played 11 seasons in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Rangers. He tallied 321 goals and 927 points in 804 career games.

The Sharks recently sent waves throughout the league when they completed a trade for Sherwood, sending Cole Clayton and two second-round picks to the Vancouver Canucks.

San Jose holds the final wild card spot in the Western Conference after finishing last overall the past two seasons.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Artemi Panarin trade rumors: Will San Jose Sharks bite?