Palat scores, assists in Islanders’ 5-2 win over Rangers

By Canadian Press on January 28, 2026.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ondrej Palat scored the opening goal and added an assist in his debut with the New York Islanders, who defeated their cross-town rival New York Rangers 5-2 on Wednesday night.

Simon Holmstrom had a goal and two assists, David Rittich made 14 saves, and the Islanders won their second straight game. Mathew Barzal, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Emil Heineman also scored.

Mika Zibanejad and Taylor Raddysh scored for the Rangers. Spencer Martin stopped 31 shots, but the Rangers lost for the fourth time in their last five games and are 2-8-1 since they won the Winter Classic in Florida on Jan. 2. Star forward Artemi Panarin was held out of the lineup for roster management purposes and will not play again for the Rangers before the Olympic break.

Holmstrom made a slick pass from the half wall to set up Palat in the slot for a power-play goal with 5:01 remaining in the first period.

Tony DeAngelo found Holmstrom for a tap-in goal 1:11 later, giving the Islanders a 2-0 lead.

Zibanejad buried a cross-ice feed from J.T. Miller late in the first period to pull the Rangers within one.

Barzal and Pageau scored 47 seconds apart midway through the second period to extend the Islanders’ lead to 4-1.

The Islanders acquired Palat from the New Jersey Devils, along with a third-round pick in 2026 and a sixth-round pick in 2027, in exchange for forward Maxim Tsyplakov.

BLUE JACKETS 5, FLYERS 3

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Charlie Coyle had a goal and an assist and Columbus beat Philadelphia for its third straight win.

Kirill Marchenko, Eric Gudbranson, Sean Monahan and Mathieu Olivier also scored for the Blue Jackets to offset a hat trick by Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny.

Elvis Merzlikins stopped 24 shots for Columbus and Zach Werenski had two assists, giving him 35 points in his last 21 home games.

The Blue Jackets have won seven of their last eight games and are tied at 57 points with the Flyers and Capitals for fourth place in the Metropolitan Division.

Konecny’s hat trick was the third of his career and Dan Vladar made 26 saves in his first start after missing six games with a lower-body injury. Rasmus Ristolainen left with a lower-body injury in the first period and did not return in the Flyers’ second straight loss.

SENATORS 5, AVALANCHE 2

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Tim Stutzle had a goal and an assist, Artem Zub added two assists and Ottawa defeated league-leading Colorado.

Nick Cousins, Ridly Greig, Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk also scored for Ottawa and James Reimer made 16 saves.

Parker Kelly and Valeri Nichushkin scored for the Avalanche, who have now lost three of their last four. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 18 shots.

Trailing for most of the game, Colorado pushed back hard in the third period but the Senators were able to hold on.

The Senators made it 3-1 early in the third with Giroux scoring his 10th of the season beating Blackwood high blocker.

Less than two minutes later, a Giroux giveaway proved costly. Jack Drury found Nichushkin out front and the latter went to his backhand and beat Reimer high glove.

Tkachuk and Stutzle each added empty-net goals.

The Associated Press

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