Rangers 4, Islanders 1: Rookie J.T. Miller made a sensational Madison Square Garden debut, scoring his first two career goals to power the Rangers over the visiting Islanders.

Ryan McDonagh added a goal and an assist and Marian Gaborik also scored as the Rangers beat the Islanders for the eighth consecutive time at home.

Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 27 shots and stymied five power-play chances for the Islanders, who tumbled to their third straight defeat. The Islanders have come up empty on 17 chances with the man advantage in the last three games.

The 19-year-old Miller electrified the crowd, scoring on his first shift by stealing the puck and beating Evgeni Nabokov (21 saves) high only 89 seconds into the game. Gaborik doubled the lead with just under six minutes left in the opening session, converting a rebound from the slot.

John Tavares scored the only goal for the Islanders at the 11:13 mark of the second period. Miller restored the two-goal edge with a breakaway on the power play - only the team's fourth with the man advantage this season - with just under two minutes left in the period.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Islanders acquired two-time Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas from the Boston Bruins on Thursday for a conditional second-round draft pick. Thomas, 38, was suspended by Boston after the veteran goaltender told the team he had no intention of playing this season. He is not expected to play for the Islanders but gives the team "roster flexibility," GM Garth Snow said. ... Rangers captain Ryan Callahan was back in the lineup after missing three games with a left shoulder subluxation, but D Dan Girardi sat out his second straight contest. ... The Islanders lifted the suspension of D Lubomir Visnovsky, an offseason acquisition who had refused to report to the club after failing to have the trade voided.