After not playing for the the first four months of the season, the Rangers and Islanders met on Monday night at the Garden and will meet a total of three times in eight days. The next meeting will be Thursday at the Coliseum and then again on Monday at the Garden.
The Athletic Islanders beat writer Arthur Staple joined me to talk about the Rangers’ 6-2 win over the Islanders at the Garden, the former possibility of Artemi Panarin and Matthew Barzal on the same line for the Islanders, the Barry Trotz defense-first style of play, who is the Islanders’ No. 1 goalie, what Lou Lamoriello will do in the next six weeks before the trade deadline and what expectations are for the team after last year’s second-round exit.