- The Canadian Press
Islanders face the Rangers in division play
New York Rangers (19-16-5, fifth in the East Division) vs. New York Islanders (26-11-4, second in the East Division) Uniondale, New York; Sunday, 7 p.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: The New York Rangers face the New York Islanders for a East Division matchup. The Islanders are 26-11-4 against opponents in the East Division. The Islanders have given up 19 power-play goals, stopping 81% of opponent chances. The Rangers are 19-16-5 in division games. The Rangers average 9.2 penalty minutes per game, the seventh-most in the Nhl. Brendan Smith leads the team serving 39 total minutes. The teams square off for the second straight game. TOP PERFORMERS: Nick Leddy leads the Islanders with 24 assists and has 25 points this season. Mathew Barzal has four goals and seven assists over the last 10 games for the Islanders. Chris Kreider leads the Rangers with 17 goals and has 26 points. Adam Fox has three goals and 16 assists over the last 10 games for the Rangers. LAST 10 GAMES: Islanders: 7-3-0, averaging three goals, 4.6 assists, 2.7 penalties and 7.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.3 goals per game with a .918 save percentage. Rangers: 6-3-1, averaging 4.2 goals, 7.4 assists, 3.4 penalties and 8.5 penalty minutes while allowing 2.8 goals per game with a .911 save percentage. INJURIES: Islanders: Michael Dal Colle: day to day (lower body). Rangers: Jack Johnson: out (sports hernia). ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. The Associated Press
- The Canadian Press
Georgiev makes 31 saves, Rangers beat Islanders 4-1
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves in his first start since March 19, Alexis Lafreniere and Colin Blackwell scored in the second period and New York Rangers beat the Islanders 4-1 on Friday night. Georgiev improved to 7-1-0 in eight starts against the Islanders. Mika Zibanejad and K’Andre Miller also scored and Artemi Panarin had two assists for the Rangers. Andy Greene scored and Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves for the Islanders. The teams meet again on Sunday night at Nassau Coliseum. CAPITALS 4, SABRES 3 BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Justin Schultz had a goal and two assists to help Washington beat Buffalo. Washington star Alex Ovechkin scored his 21st goal of the season and No. 727 for his career, moving within four of Marcel Dionne for fifth on the NHL list. Brenden Dillon and Jakub Vrana also scored. Vitek Vanecek stopped 30 shots for his NHL rookie-leading 16th win. Washington stopped a two-game slide and improved to 6-0-1 against Buffalo this season. Henri Jokiharju, Casey Mittelstadt and Tage Thompson scored for Buffalo. PENGUINS 6, DEVILS 4 NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Bryan Rust scored two goals, Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists and Pittsburgh beat New Jersey. Jared McCann, Brian Dumoulin and Colton Sceviour also scored and Casey DeSmith made 25 saves to help the Penguins win for the second straight night and eighth time in 11 games. Miles Wood scored twice and Jack Hughes and Jesper Boqvist added goals for the Devils. The Associated Press
- The Canadian Press
Georgiev stops 31 shots, Rangers beat Islanders 4-1
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves in his first start since March 19, Alexis Lafreniere and Colin Blackwell scored in the second period, and New York Rangers beat the Islanders 4-1 on Friday night. Mika Zibanejad and K'Andre Miller also scored and Artemi Panarin had two assists for the Rangers. Andy Greene scored and Semyon Varlamov finished with 32 saves as the Islanders snapped a five-game winning streak and fell to 17-2-2 at home. The teams meet again on Sunday night at Nassau Coliseum. Georgiev improved to 7-1-0 in eight starts against the Islanders. He has allowed two goals or fewer in seven of nine career appearances against the Islanders, including one goal or fewer five times. Since his first start against the Islanders on Nov. 21, 2018, Georgiev has more wins against the Islanders than any other NHL goaltender. The teams played a brisk first period featuring strong saves at both ends. The Rangers held a 13-7 shots advantage over the first 20 minutes. Varlamov stopped former Islander Ryan Strome on the Rangers’ best chance six minutes into the game after Strome accepted a pass from Artemi Panarin but was denied by a sliding Varlamov save. Zibanejad had a golden opportunity, springing into the Islander zone on a breakaway after leaving the penalty box. But he lost control on the puck with no Islander in sight and failed to get off a shot. Lafreniere finally opened the scoring with his seventh goal, tapping the puck past Varlamov at 6:05 of the second. Linemates Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil drew assists. Are three forwards — starting with the 19-year-old Lafreniere who was the first overall pick in last year’s draft — are 21 years old or younger. Lafreneiere’s goal ended Varlamov’s shutout streak against the Rangers this season at 146:05. Varlamov registered shutouts in two of the team’s three meetings earlier this season at Madison Square Garden. Georgiev blanked the Islanders in the other game. Blackwell made it 2-0 with his 12th goal at 10:01 of the second. Blackwell scored his sixth goal in the last seven games. Greene defenceman narrowed the deficit to 2-1 with his first goal his season at 14:53 of the second. Greene’s slap shot from the point appeared to be deflected by a Rangers player before it eluded Georgiev. The Islanders outshot the Rangers 16-12 in the second period. Miller scored an insurance goal at 11:48 of the third, the rookie defenceman's fourth goal of the season. Zibanejad added an empty netter — his 14th — to complete the scoring at 18:48. The Islanders fell to 21-3-3 in back-ends of back-to-back games, still the best record of any NHL team in back-ends over the past three seasons. KINGS OF THE COLISEUM The Rangers have won their last five games at Nassau Coliseum dating back to Feb. 16, 2015 and eight of nine overall on Long Island. The Rangers are 17-5-1 in their last 23 games at Nassau Coliseum, though they were 1-6-1 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in recent years. VERY YOUNG RANGERS The Rangers are the youngest team in the league, with 10 of the 22 players on their active roster 23 years old or younger. Average age on the Rangers’ active roster is 25.2 years old. STREAKING FOX Rangers defenceman Adam Fox snapped a 12-game point streak in which he had three goals and 19 assists. It was the third-longest point streak in the NHL this season behind Carolina’s Dougie Hamilton at 14 games and Toronto’s Auston Matthews at 13. Allan Kreda, The Associated Press
NHL East Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | 26 | 11 | 4 | 56 | |
| 41 | 26 | 11 | 4 | 56 | |
| 41 | 26 | 13 | 2 | 54 | |
| 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 48 | |
| 40 | 19 | 15 | 6 | 44 | |
| 40 | 19 | 16 | 5 | 43 | |
| 39 | 14 | 19 | 6 | 34 | |
| 40 | 9 | 25 | 6 | 24 |
