NASHVILLE -- The Nashville Predators were looking to tune their game up for the playoffs.

The New York Islanders were just looking stay in the postseason chase.

When defenseman Thomas Hickey scored 1:25 into overtime to give the Islanders a 2-1 win over the Predators on Tuesday, it kept his team's postseason chances alive -- barely.

Boston and Ottawa had already clinched playoff spots Tuesday, but the Islanders can still theoretically catch Toronto. New York trails the Maple Leafs by five points. The Islanders and Maple Leafs each have three games left.

"We were putting everything on the line out there," Islanders center Brock Nelson said. "(Islanders coach Doug Weight) just keeps saying, 'Go out there and control what you can control.' So we're just trying to win out. That's all we can do to give ourselves a shot."

The Predators, who clinched a playoff berth over the weekend, lost for the fourth time in their last five outings. Nashville is still battling for playoff position in the Western Conference, but Tuesday's overtime loss left them in eighth place.

"I'll be honest, I think when you clinch and get that 'X' next to your name, you want to come out and play the same way, but I do think (the intensity) dropped a little bit," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "It didn't have the same bite and the same feel, the way (the last two games) had."

Hickey's goal capped a big night for the 28 year-old, who played as a winger during regulation for the first time in his professional career.

"I thought he was great," Weight said. "He was great on the wall. He's just a real unselfish player. Obviously Thomas' strength is his competitiveness. He has no fear."

The Islanders had tied the contest 1-1 just 1:32 into the third period when Nelson -- who'd already had a handful of scoring chances -- finally beat Pekka Rinne with a wicked wrist shot into the upper corner.

Rinne had posted five straight scoreless periods before the Nelson goal.

The Predators had taken a 1-0 lead with 12:57 left in the second period on Mike Fisher's goal.

Linemate Colin Wilson set up the score, making a strong run down the left wing before sliding a pass into the slot for Fisher, who easily knocked the puck into a largely open net. It was the 18th goal of the season for Fisher, leaving him two shy of hitting the 20-goal mark for the seventh time in his career.

"The Fisher, Wilson, Smith line I thought played really well," Laviolette said. "They played a real strong game, a steady game."

Rinne, coming off a shutout win over Minnesota in his last effort, blanked the Isles through the game's opening two periods, turning away 21 shots. He's now 5-3 in his last eight contests. In his last seven games, Rinne had posted a 1.43 goals against average and .944 save percentage.

"I'm feeling good and feeling confident," Rinne said. "This time of year, it's fun. You automatically feel focused and ready to go and energized, everything like that. I think the team, defensively, has done a good job limiting chances and turnovers."

The Islanders looked like the more desperate team during a scoreless opening 20 minutes, outshooting the Predators 13-7.

Left wing Anders Lee forced Rinne to make one of his most difficult saves with 4:07 left in the opening frame, as Rinne stopped Lee's short-range backhand on the power play. With 2:44 left in the first, Nelson missed the net on a point-blank attempt from the slot.

NOTES: Predators D Brad Hunt, who was claimed Jan. 17 on waivers from St. Louis, finally made his Nashville debut ... Preds LW Miikka Salomaki, who hadn't played since Oct. 15 with a lower-body injury, returned to the lineup. ... Nashville sold out every home game this season, a record for the franchise. ... The Predators scratched D Anthony Bitetto, D Yannick Weber, LW James Neal, LW Harry Zolnierczyk, LW Austin Watson and C Vernon Fiddler ... The Islanders scratched D Travis Harmonic, C Shane Prince, C Ryan Strome, C Casey Cizikas, LW Nikolay Kulemin, C John Tavares and G Jean-Francois Berube ... The Islanders played their second consecutive game without Tavares, who will miss the remainder of the regular season with a lower-body injury.