Islanders 5, Panthers 2
Michael Grabner scored twice and captain Mark Streit collected a goal and an assist as New York won its final home game to improve to 6-0-2 in its last eight contests.
Matt Moulson and defenseman Radek Martinek also tallied and Evgeni Nabokov turned aside 26 shots for the seventh-place Islanders, who remained one point behind Ottawa while moving three ahead of the cross-town Rangers. The Senators posted a 3-2 victory over Carolina on Tuesday while Philadelphia skated to a 4-2 triumph over the Rangers.
Jacob Markstrom yielded five goals on 18 shots before being relieved by Scott Clemmensen (13 saves) in the second period. Marcel Goc had a goal and an assist and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov also tallied for the Panthers, who opened a four-game road trip with their fourth loss in five contests.
Moulson opened the scoring 8:01 into the first period by redirecting defenseman Thomas Hickey's centering feed. Streit converted a 5-on-3 advantage with a blast from the faceoff circle and Grabner gave New York a 3-0 edge with 3:13 remaining in the session after beating Markstrom on a breakaway.
Martinek answered Kulikov's tally with a one-timer 3:19 into the second period. Grabner added his 15th goal just 14 seconds later after taking advantage of a Panthers' turnover in their own end before backhanding the puck past Markstrom.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Islanders RW Kyle Okposo celebrated his 25th birthday with an assist on Streit's power-play goal. ... Panthers C Tomas Fleischmann, who notched a pair of assists, has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his last nine games. ... New York visits Toronto on Thursday to begin its five-game road trip to end the season.