"What a flawed team even when healthy": Islanders fans disappointed after Rangers thump Isles 5-2 in battle of New York

The New York Islanders suffered a disappointing 5-2 defeat at the hands of their crosstown rivals, the New York Rangers, on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers' dynamic offense, led by Artemi Panarin's two-goal performance and contributions from Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck, and Adam Edstrom. For the Islanders, Casey Cizikas and Brock Nelson scored.

Igor Shesterkin made 35 saves while Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves of 39 in the loss.

The loss left Islanders fans questioning their team's direction and competitive ability.

"What a flawed team even when healthy," one frustrated fan's social media post captured the sentiment of many supporters.

Another fan wrote,

"I have to say this rivalry has been boring for many years now." on X.

Here are some fan reactions:

"This team sucks trade guys please idc how long they been on the team they had their time. Get draft picks start from scratch and actually develop young players better and Lou needs to be fired." one fan wrote on X.

"4 or 5 legit NHL players on this team when healthy. The rest just incapable of making even a simple play. Pathetic." another fan wrote.

"The intensity of play. I grew up in the 80’s where these games were wars and now they feel like just another game." a user commented.

"Yeah, we’re banged up which doesn’t help. But let’s face it, even our fully healthy roster looks pretty mediocre this season." another user wrote.

Next, the Islanders will face the Pittusburgh Penguins on Tuesday evening at UBS Arena.

Islanders coach Patrick Roy said his team played "well enough to win"

New York Head Coach Patrick Roy showed mixed emotions following his team's 5-2 defeat to the Rangers, highlighting both positives and areas of concern.

Despite the loss, Roy praised his squad's resilience and competitive spirit, particularly noting their power play opportunities that generated three quality scoring chances.

“We gave three good chances on our power play,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “I'm sure [Dobson] would like to make a different play on that one, but after that I mean, I'm proud of our group, because we battle back.”

"I mean, we have, I thought we play the super nice game, not super nice game, but we played a good game, you know, well enough to win... I mean, if we score there, make it a 3-3 game, it gives us momentum and we could go..."