Rittich said he saw Soucy talk to Rangers backup Jonathan Quick on the bench and that signaled a shot for the defenseman. Rittich challenged confidently on the shot and battled for his crease all night, despite taking some contact, including a hit from Cuylle behind the net.
The animated netminder has brought some swagger and energy to the Islanders crease, complementing Ilya Sorokin’s stoicism and he’s been hot of late, going 3-0-1 in his last four games, stopping 119-of-126 over that span.
Rittich, who Roy said might be in line to start in Columbus, didn’t seem too concerned with the clean sheet after the game – the eighth of his career.
“It’s great,” Rittich said. “I don’t very much care about shutouts. I’m not big shutout guy, because I don’t have many of them, so I’m thankful for that. But I don’t care if it ends up seven six, but we got two points that’s all that matters.”