Newest Isles make preseason debuts at MSG
Chimera, Ladd Gets First Taste of Local Rivalry in Exhibition Loss
The stakes weren’t very high.
Nor was the intensity, compared to what it will be like on Oct. 13 when the New York Islanders and New York Rangers kick off their respective campaigns against one another in the regular-season NHL opener for both local squads.
But for Jason Chimera and Andrew Ladd, Tuesday night’s 5-2 preseason loss to the Blueshirts at Madison Square Garden was a little taste of what’s to come for the newly signed free agents.
“It was pretty cool to put the uniform on,” said Chimera, who scored his first goal in orange-and-blue to give the Islanders a short-lived 1-0 lead at MSG in the opening period of one of two split-squad preseason defeats the team suffered on Tuesday.