Josh Bailey scored the game-winning goal with 1:26 left in the third period Thursday night as the New York Islanders edged the host New York Rangers, 4-3.
The Rangers turned the puck over near center ice to set up the goal. Cal Clutterbuck picked up the loose puck, skated up the right side and dished across the crease to Bailey, whose shot sailed under the stick of goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
The goal came on the Islanders' first shot of the third period, during which the Rangers held a 17-1 shot advantage.
Mathew Barzal, Jordan Eberle and Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders, who have won seven of eight. Goalie Robin Lehner made 27 saves.
Ryan Strome, Kevin Shattenkirk and Jesper Fast scored for the Rangers, who have lost five straight and eight of 10 (2-6-2). Lundqvist recorded 16 saves.
Strome, who played the first four seasons of his career with the Islanders, opened the scoring 1:38 into the first, when he went to one knee to take a pass from Jimmy Vesey and beat Lehner as the Islanders goalie was caught leaning to his left.
Barzal tied the score just 53 seconds later, when Johnny Boychuk picked off a Rangers clearing pass and fired to Barzal, who beat Lundqvist on the breakaway.
Eberle put the Islanders ahead at the 8:51 mark of the first, when he initially lost a pass from Lee before corralling the puck on his stick and firing a shot over Lundqvist's glove.
Shattenkirk tied the score again 1:11 into the second, when his shot from just inside the faceoff circle sailed past a screened Lehner and into the net.
The Islanders went back ahead a mere 1:57 later, when Lee redirected Nick Leddy's shot from just inside the blue line.
The Rangers tied the score in unusual fashion 8:40 into the third, when Fast, in one motion, batted down a high pass from Neal Pionk and shoveled the puck past Lehner.
--Field Level Media
NY Islanders | NY Rangers | |
Mathew Barzal 3 | Points | Jesper Fast 1 |
Mathew Barzal 1 | Goals | Jesper Fast 1 |
Mathew Barzal 2 | Assists | Pavel Buchnevich 1 |
Anders Lee 1 | Power Play Goals | Ryan Strome 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Robin Lehner .900 | Save Percentage | Henrik Lundqvist .800 |
Robin Lehner 27 | Saves | Henrik Lundqvist 16 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
NY Islanders | 20 | 4 | 2-3 | 2-3 | 13 | 35 |
NY Rangers | 30 | 3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 13 | 24 |