Islanders 4, Rangers 1
NEW YORK -- Goaltender Thomas Greiss made 36 saves as the New York Islanders took over third place in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-1 victory against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
Both the Islanders and Rangers have 99 points, but the Islanders own the tiebreaker by virtue of having two games remaining while the Rangers have one.
The Islanders swept the season series, winning all four games.
Left winger Shane Prince had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who also received goals from centers Casey Cizkias, Frans Nielsen and John Tavares, who iced the win with an empty-net goal with 32 seconds remaining.
Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein snapped Greiss' shutout with 2:48 remaining in the third period, beating him with a long shot through a screen for his ninth of the season.
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist allowed three goals on 16 shots and was pulled after the second period. Backup goaltender Antti Raanta turned aside six shots in relief.
After nearly 34 minutes of scoreless hockey, the Islanders blew open the game with three goals over the final 6:32 of the second period.
Prince broke the 0-0 deadlock with his sixth of the season and third in 18 games with the Islanders. Defenseman Marek Zidlicky fired a slap shot from the blue line that Prince deflected off the knee of Rangers defenseman Dan Boyle and past Lundqvist to make it 1-0 at 13:28.
Prince was the catalyst on the Islanders' second goal, scored by Cizkias with 1:22 remaining. Prince pulled the defense toward him as he skated down the left wing and fired a pass into the slot for Cizkias, who hit the yawning yet to make it 2-0 with his eighth of the season.
About a minute earlier, Greiss made a stretching right leg save on Rangers left winger J.T. Miller, who appeared to have a sure goal before the incredible stop preserved the one-goal lead.
Nielsen's power-play goal with 14.8 seconds remaining increased the lead to 3-0. Center John Tavares set up the goal with a cross-ice pass that Nielsen hammered into a mostly open net for his 20th of the season.
NOTES: Islanders D Calvin de Haan returned after missing Tuesday's game with an injury he suffered Monday. ... Islanders RW Cal Clutterbuck (undisclosed), LW Matt Martin (upper body) and D Brian Strait (upper body) did not play. ... The Rangers were without D Ryan McDonagh (hand) and D Dan Girardi (upper body). McDonagh will miss the final game of the regular season on Saturday and could miss postseason games. Girardi, who was injured in the final minutes of Tuesday's game, is considered day to day. ... Rangers D Dan Boyle and C Kevin Hayes, who did not play Tuesday, were back in the lineup. ... Rangers C Oscar Lindberg was a healthy scratch.