National Hockey League
NY Islanders 6, NY Rangers 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Where: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Referees: Tom Chmielewski, Brian Pochmara
Linesmen: Julien Fournier, Bryan Pancich
Attendance: 1400

Josh Bailey scored twice Tuesday night for the host New York Islanders, who never trailed as they dented the playoff hopes of their rivals with a 6-1 win over the New York Rangers in Uniondale, N.Y.

Brock Nelson and Anthony Beauvillier scored in the second and Bailey's second goal was sandwiched by tallies in the third from Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Jordan Eberle as the Islanders (29-13-4) won their second straight to move into a tie for first place in the East Division with the idle Washington Capitals. The Islanders and Capitals are scheduled to meet in Uniondale on Thursday night.

Goalie Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves.

Kevin Rooney scored in the second for the Rangers (23-17-6), who had their four-game winning streak snapped and fell six points behind the Boston Bruins in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East. The Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-0.

Goalie Igor Shesterkin recorded 22 saves.

Bailey, who missed the previous two games with an undisclosed injury, opened the scoring by taking a backhanded pass into the crease from Pageau and shoving a shot into the open right corner of the net as he was pushed from behind by Anthony Bitetto with 2:18 left in the first.

A turnover by the Rangers deep in their own zone led to Nelson's goal 1:38 into the second. K'Andre Miller's pass to Mika Zibanejad clipped off Zibanejad's stick to begin a sequence that ended when Nick Leddy's shot into the crease glanced off the stick of Nelson and over Shesterkin's left shoulder.

Beauvillier, who had three assists, collected the puck after Rooney blocked a shot by Noah Dobson and scored into the wide-open net for a power-play goal at the 5:45 mark.

Brett Howden's check of Leddy behind the Islanders' net helped set up the Rangers' goal. Vitali Kravtsov chased down the loose puck and passed to Brendan Smith, whose shot from just inside the blue line ticked off Rooney's stick as he began battling for position with Dobson.

Pageau scored from the slot -- and fired the shot so hard he fell over -- 7:44 into the third. Bailey went to one knee in the slot and completed his first multi-goal game since March 23, 2019, with 9:44 left and Eberle beat Shesterkin with the backhand just 66 seconds later.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
NY Rangers   NY Islanders
Kevin Rooney 1 Points Anthony Beauvillier 4
Kevin Rooney 1 Goals Josh Bailey 2
Vitali Kravtsov 1 Assists Anthony Beauvillier 3
N/A Power Play Goals Anthony Beauvillier 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Igor Shesterkin .786 Save Percentage Semyon Varlamov .962
Igor Shesterkin 22 Saves Semyon Varlamov 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
NY Rangers 26 1 0-2 2-3 6 15
NY Islanders 28 6 1-3 2-2 4 28
Upcoming Games
  • NY Islanders will play their next game at home against Washington. The Islanders have a W/L % of .679 after a win and .529 after a loss.
  • NY Rangers will play their next game at home against Philadelphia. The Rangers have a W/L % of .435 after a win and .591 after a loss.