1970s The rivalry was established in late 1971, when the National Hockey League awarded a second franchise in the New York metropolitan area. With the impending start of the
World Hockey Association in the fall of
1972, the upstart league had plans to place a team, the
New York Raiders, in the then-new
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in
Nassau County. The NHL did not want competition in the nation's largest metro area, so despite having expanded two years before, the NHL awarded franchises to
Atlanta (which ultimately failed and moved to Calgary) and Long Island to preempt the WHA. The fledgling New York Islanders had an extra burden to pay in the form of a $4 million territorial fee to the nearby New York Rangers. In the 1974–75 season, the Islanders made their first postseason appearance while the Rangers qualified for the ninth straight season. The two teams met in the preliminary round. The Islanders won game one in Madison Square Garden, but the Rangers tied the series at one by defeating the Islanders 8–3 on the road. The Islanders won the series 2–1 as they beat the Rangers 4–3 11 seconds into overtime on
J. P. Parise's goal at the Garden. In 1979, the teams squared off again in the
playoffs, but this time in the semifinals. The Rangers took game one on the road, but the Islanders tied the series with an overtime win. The Rangers took game three at home, but once again, the Islanders tied the series with another overtime win. The Rangers won games five and six to end the Islanders' season, but lost to Montreal in the
Stanley Cup Final.
1980s The two clubs would battle once again in the semifinals of the
1981 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Islanders won the Stanley Cup the previous year, and looked to defend their title. Islanders devastated the Rangers by sweeping the series and winning all four games by at least three goals. The Islanders were crowned
Stanley Cup champions once again as they beat the
Minnesota North Stars in the Final. The next season, the teams met again in the playoffs, this time in the division finals. The Rangers took game one on the road, but the Islanders won the next three. The Rangers struck back to win game five on the road, but were eliminated in game six. The Islanders swept their opponents in the next two rounds and won the
Stanley Cup for the third straight year. The teams met in the division finals yet again in the
1982–83 season. The Islanders took a 2–0 series lead by winning two home games, but then the Rangers tied the series at two by winning their home games. The Islanders won games five and six to move to claim their fourth straight
Stanley Cup. In the
1983–84 season, the teams fought in the division semifinals. The Islanders took game one, but the Rangers won games two and three 3–0 and 7–2 respectively. The Islanders won game four, and then won the series 3–2 with an overtime win. This time, the Islanders moved on to the Final, but lost in a rematch to the Oilers. The rivalry remained intense throughout the late 1980s, but only during the regular season. Islanders fans often mocked the Rangers by chanting "1940" to tease them about their Stanley Cup drought, one of the longest championship droughts in NHL history and all of sports.
1990s In the
1989–90 season, the teams met in the division semifinals yet again. The Rangers took games one and two at home, but the Islanders battled hard to win game three in double overtime. The Rangers ended up winning the series 4–1 but lost to the
Washington Capitals in the second round. After Islanders legends
Bryan Trottier,
Mike Bossy,
Denis Potvin,
Clark Gillies,
Brent Sutter,
Pat LaFontaine,
John Tonelli,
Bob Bourne and
Bobby Nystrom retired or left the team, the Islanders did not achieve the same success as they did in the 1980s. The Rangers on the other hand, acquired key players like
Mark Messier and
Adam Graves, as well as drafting key players including
Brian Leetch and
Alexei Kovalev. The two teams met in the playoff during the
1993–94 season in the conference quarterfinals. The Rangers swept the Islanders, outscoring them 22–3, and then beat the Capitals,
New Jersey Devils, and
Vancouver Canucks to win their first
Stanley Cup since 1940. That was the Islanders' last playoff appearance of the decade. The Rangers gained
Wayne Gretzky who helped them back to the conference finals in
1997, but they were eliminated by Philadelphia.
2000s During the 2000s, the Islanders made only four playoff appearances. The Rangers missed the playoffs eight straight years (including the 2004–05 lockout), prior to signing All-Star
Jaromir Jagr, and qualifying for the
2006 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Rangers made it to the second round in
2007 and
2008 with the help of Swedish goaltender
Henrik Lundqvist. The Islanders made it to the 2007 playoffs, but were eliminated in the first round. Announced in 2001, the
Pat LaFontaine Trophy was awarded to the winner of the Islanders–Rangers regular season series; it is unclear whether the trophy has been acknowledged by either team since the early 2000s.
2010–present The Rangers had an eight-game home winning streak versus the Islanders until the Islanders beat them in a shootout on February 14, 2013. This was balanced by the Islanders winning four games in Madison Square Garden during this time. The Islanders' first overall draft pick in 2009,
John Tavares, scored 20+ goals in the past six seasons and led them back to the playoffs in
2013,
2015 and
2016. On April 13, 2013, during a Rangers–Islanders game at
Nassau Coliseum, the Rangers and Islanders were both scoreless in regulation for the first time since 1989, but defenseman
Daniel Girardi won it for the Rangers in overtime. On January 29, 2014, the Rangers defeated the Islanders 2–1 in the third game of the
2014 NHL Stadium Series; that game was held at
Yankee Stadium. The winning goal was scored by
Daniel Carcillo in the third period. In the
2015–16 season, the Islanders moved from Nassau Coliseum to the
Barclays Center in
Brooklyn, officially making it a true intra-city rivalry within New York City. The Islanders then completed their first-ever season sweep of the Rangers, en route to winning their first playoff series since 1993 defeating the
Florida Panthers four games to two. In the
2017–18 season, the Islanders once again swept the Rangers, improving their record to 11–1–0 against them over the previous three seasons. In the
2018–19 season, the Islanders began to split their home games between Barclays Center and Nassau Coliseum. The use of both arenas continued until the scheduled 2021 completion of their new home,
UBS Arena in
Elmont, outside the New York City border. All of the Islanders' home games with the Rangers through the 2019–20 season were scheduled to be played at Barclays Center, but on September 23, the Islanders moved seven more games from the Barclays Center, two of which against the Rangers, making it a total of 28 games to be played at Nassau Coliseum. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the Islanders and Rangers played eight times in the
2020–21 season, the most games the teams played against each other in a season since the
2007–08 season. The Islanders won six games, en route to making the playoffs over the Rangers. In the
2021–22 season, teams played the first game of the rivalry in the newly opened
UBS Arena. The Rangers won the inaugural game 4–1, denying the Islanders a chance to beat the Rangers for their first win at UBS Arena. Later in the season, the Islanders would get their revenge, winning both games at Madison Square Garden, and ultimately, both teams finished with a 2–2 record against each other. Due to changes in the scheduling process, the teams only played three times in the
2022–23 season, all of which were before Christmas. The Islanders, thanks to a third period comeback in the second game out of three, won the overall season series 2–1. The three games the teams played against each other was the fewest number of times the two rivals had played each other in the 50-year history of the rivalry. ==Meetings==