NEW YORK -- If the Detroit Red Wings make a 25th straight playoff appearance this spring, perhaps they can vote a postseason share to winter storm Jonas.

Left winger Justin Abdelkader and defenseman Danny DeKeyser scored 71 seconds apart in the second period Monday night as the Red Wings took advantage of their unusual status as a better-rested road team by beating the New York Islanders, 4-2, at Barclays Center.

The victory capped a whirlwind trip to Brooklyn for the Red Wings, who didn't get to their hotel until after 2 AM Monday morning following a long bus trip in from an airport on Long Island. The New York City airports were not yet fully operational after Jonas dropped more than 26 inches of snow on Saturday and forced the postponement of the Islanders' game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

"That was an adventure," Red Wings center Brad Richards said.

But the Red Wings managed to have a routine game day in Brooklyn, including a morning skate at Barclays.

"We got our rest," Richards said. "We were in early enough to have a nice meal and get our rest."

Islanders players, meanwhile, skated at the team's practice complex on Long Island but had to drive to the game along traffic-choked highways because the Long Island Railroad has yet to resume service into Brooklyn.

"I'm sure they had lots of issues here -- you all did -- with the snow," Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said. "We try to worry about the things we can control. It took us a little longer to get here -- that's life. We were here this morning, we were here tonight, let's go play the game."

Islanders center John Tavares didn't use the travel as an excuse but acknowledged he and his teammates didn't possess their usual pep.

"We had some good moments, but we were sluggish for most of it," Tavares said. "It leaves a sour taste in your mouth with the two points we left out there."

The Red Wings certainly looked like the fresher team in never trailing against the Islanders and earning a win that might pay big dividends in an incredibly packed Eastern Conference playoff race.

"Anytime you can beat a team, especially an Eastern Conference opponent, in regulation, it's huge because there's so many three-point games nowadays," DeKeyser said, referring to the lower point awarded to a team that falls in overtime or the shootout. "It really makes it tight coming down towards the end of the year."

Detroit (25-16-8) and New York (25-16-6) are among the six non-division leaders in the East that have between 55 and 59 points. The Red Wings moved into second place in the Atlantic Division with the win. The Islanders are in third place in the Metropolitan Division but just one point ahead of the second wild card, the New Jersey Devils.

Richards and Islanders center Brock Nelson scored goals less than six minutes apart in the first before Abdelkader and DeKeyser delivered a 1-2 punch late in the second.

Center Dylan Larkin set up Abdelkader's goal by passing to left winger Henrik Zetterberg, who wound up as if he were about to take a shot before passing to Abdelkader. Islanders defensemen Calvin de Haan and Travis Hamonic each reached out with their sticks to try to deflect the pass, but the puck made it untouched to Abdelkader, whose shot sailed over sprawling Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak with 6:31 left.

DeKeyser doubled the lead by putting back his own rebound. After his first shot bounced off Halak, DeKeyser wriggled past Islanders defenseman Brian Strait and fired a shot over Halak's glove.

Islanders center Mikhail Grabovski scored with 3:44 left, but Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek (27 saves) stopped the final three shots he faced and center Luke Glendening scored an empty-netter in the final minute.

"We had some chances, but couldn't find the equalizer," Nelson said. "If we had a little more time, we'd probably get it. But that's the way it goes."

Halak recorded 22 saves.

NOTES: The announced crowd was 12,086, though there were many pockets of empty seats. ... The postponement Saturday was just the third home postponement in Islanders history. Blizzards also forced games to be postponed at Nassau Coliseum on Feb. 7, 1978, and March 13, 1993. ... The Islanders scratched RW Steve Bernier and D Scott Mayfield. ... Islanders D Johnny Boychuk, who hasn't played since Dec. 31 due to an upper-body injury, skated with the team Monday morning. ... The Red Wings scratched D Niklas Kronwall (knee surgery), D Nick Jensen and LW Teemu Pulkkinen. ... LW Eric Tangradi made his debut for the Red Wings. It was his first NHL game since Dec. 18, 2014, when he was a member of the Montreal Canadiens.