The Islanders weren’t going to let their New York rivals make it difficult for them to make the playoffs. They got the better of the Rangers by a score of 4 to 2 on Tuesday, and thus remain in third place in the Metropolitan division.
With 87 points, the Islanders hold a two-point lead over the Washington Capitals, three over the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings and four over the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Islanders quickly set their pace in this meeting, thanks to a goal from Mike Reilly in the first five minutes.
The initial engagement was really the business of Patrick Roy’s men. Bo Horvat scored his 33rd of the season, a fourth in five games. Kyle Palmieri followed less than two minutes later to make it 3-0 Islanders.
The Rangers showed signs of life in the second period with goals from Chris Kreider and Adam Fox to close the gap.
However, Peter Laviolette’s men were unable to find the back of the net in the third.
New York, however, suffered a hard blow in the 3rd when Mika Zibanejad had to leave for the locker room, following accidental head contact with Adam Pelech. The collision occurred at center ice as the Rangers forward hit Pelech without seeing him in his path. He remained lying on the ice before finally retreating to the locker room.
With two assists, Noah Dobson became the second defenseman in Islanders history to collect 60 assists in a season. The other is Denis Potvin.
This is a fifth straight victory for the Islanders. who will receive a visit from the Montreal Candiens on Thursday.
