Rangers 3, Islanders 0
Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves for his third shutout of the season and rookie Carl Hagelin scored two goals as the New York Rangers skated to a 3-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Monday.
The Rangers, who secured their fifth straight win, claimed top spot in the Eastern Conference by moving past the idle Boston Bruins.
Lundqvist recorded his 38th career shutout by making several big saves in the first half of the contest as the Rangers shook of the rust from their Christmas break.
After a scoreless first period, Hagelin put the Rangers on the board at 5:14 of the second. Defenseman Michael Del Zotto dipsy-doodled around Frans Nielsen at the point and snapped a shot that was stopped by Evgeni Nabokov. Captain Ryan Callahan tipped the rebound to Hagelin, who buried his fifth goal of the season.
The trio connected again at 6:32 of the third period when Callahan fed a pass to Del Zotto down low, who in turn found Hagelin alone in front for his second goal of the night.
Marian Gaborik extended his goal scoring streak to five games by netting his NHL-leading 22nd goal of the season into an empty net.