NEW YORK — Josh Bailey had a goal and two assists, Thomas Greiss stopped 40 shots, and the New York Islanders held on to beat the rival New York Rangers 4-2 Tuesday night.
Anders Lee, Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson also scored, and Mathew Barzal had two assists to help the Islanders head into the All-Star break with their second win in eight games (2-4-2). The Islanders got their first win against the Rangers in the teams’ third meeting in nine days.
Greiss improved to 5-0-1 in eight career games against the Rangers.
Pavel Buchevich and Chris Kreider scored power-play goals 1:47 apart late in the third period for the short-handed Rangers. Alexandar Georgiev, who came in 4-1-0 in five games against the Islanders, finished with 14 saves.
The Rangers were without All-Star forward Artemi Panarin, who sat out with an upper body injury. Brendan Lemieux took his spot on the top line to start the game.
![Artemi Panarin New York Rangers](https://s3951.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Artemi-Panarin-Rangers-3-575x432.jpg)
The Islanders, 2 for 29 on the power play over their previous 14 games, were 2 for 2 against the Rangers.
Nelson scored from the left side off a nice pass from Bailey to make it 4-0 at 3:13 of the third. It was Nelson’s 20th of the season.
Lemieux hit a goalpost a little more than a minute later, keeping the Rangers off the scoreboard.
However, shortly after Islanders defenceman Scott Mayfield was whistled for a double-minor for spearing Lemieux, Buchnevich scored on a deflection to get the Rangers on the board with 6:15 left. It was Buchnevich’s eighth.
With the Rangers still on the power play and the goalie pulled for a 6-on-4 advantage, Kreider scored on the rebound of Mika Zibanejad’s shot to make it 4-2 with 4:28 to go. It was Kreider’s 17th.
![Chris Kreider New York Rangers](https://s3951.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Chris-Kreider-Rangers-1-575x431.jpg)
After a time out by the Rangers, the Islanders were given a delay of game penalty — putting the Rangers on the power play again with 4:26 left. The Rangers again pulled Georgiev for another 6-on-4, but couldn’t take advantage.
The Rangers trailed 2-0 after one period, and Zibanejad nearly cut the deficit in half in the opening minute of the second but his shot went off a goalpost.
Lee fired a one-timer off a pass from Barzal past Georgiev for his 16th at 9:52 of the second for a 3-0 lead. The puck appeared to deflect in off the Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren, the second time in the game a goal was scored off the defenceman.
Nick Leddy rang a shot off a goalpost for the Islanders with just under nine minutes left in the middle period.
Ryan Strome appeared to get the Rangers on the scoreboard with 2:08 left in the second, but the Islanders challenged for offside on the play and, after a review, the goal was erased.
![Ryan Strome New York Rangers](https://s3951.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Ryan-Strome-Rangers-2-575x431.jpg)
The Rangers also controlled play for much of the first 12 minutes of the game. Greiss made several nice stops to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard, including a stellar save on a slap shot by Buchnevich with 8:34 left.
On the other end, Barzal fired a shot off the crossbar less than 20 seconds later. The Rangers had an 8-1 advantage on shots on goal at the time.
With the Islanders on a power play, Bailey deflected a shot by rookie defenceman Noah Dobson. Georgiev made the save, but the puck deflected off Lindgren’s leg and in. Bailey was credited with his 11th goal with 6:25 remaining.
![Josh Bailey New York Islanders](https://s3951.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Josh-Bailey-Islanders-1-575x383.jpg)
The Islanders were on another power play as Beauvillier got the puck from Barzal high between the circles, skated forward and fired the puck past Georgiev for his 18th with 3:25 left in the period to make it 2-0.
NOTES
Panarin, signed to a seven-year, $81.5 million deal last summer, missed his first game this season. He has totalled 26 goals and 42 assists in 47 games, including a career high-tying five points (two goals, three assists) in the Rangers’ 6-2 win over the Islanders on Jan. 13. … Rangers F Jesper Fast played in his 400th career NHL game. … The Rangers began a stretch of six of their next seven games at home. … The teams conclude the season series Feb. 25 at Nassau Coliseum. … Bailey has three goals and three assists in his last seven games. … Lee scored for the second straight game and has five goals and an assist in his last nine games.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Host Vancouver on Feb. 1 to open a three-game homestand in Brooklyn.
Rangers: Host Detroit on Jan. 31 to open a two-night, home-and-home set with the Red Wings.
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Vin A. Cherwoo, The Associated Press