It’s back to work for the New York Rangers on Saturday, who come off the three-day NHL Christmas break with a road game against their arch-rival New York Islanders at UBS Arena.
It’s a big game for both teams. The Rangers (19-16-4) are two points behind the third-place Islanders (20-13-4) in the Metropolitan Division, and the Isles have two games in hand. The Blueshirts are 5-4-0 against division opponents, including a 5-0 shutout loss to the Islanders at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 8. Their Long Island rivals are 5-4-2 against Metro teams, including a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday in their final game before the break.