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Nylander scores PP goal in OT, Rangers win fifth straight

Mar 25, 2007 - 9:57 PM UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Michael Nylander made Sean Hill pay for an overtime penalty.

Nylander deflected a shot by Brendan Shanahan past Rick DiPietro with 49 seconds left in the extra session to lead the New York Rangers to their fifth straight win, a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders.

It was the first meeting between the Atlantic Division rivals since Chris Simon's vicious stick attack on the Rangers' Ryan Hollweg on March 8. Simon was suspended for the rest of the season and the playoffs.

Although the game was physical, there were no lingering signs of chippy play.

The Rangers (39-28-9) have now earned points in 13 of their last 14 games (10-1-3) to move into sixth place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Tampa Bay (41-30-4).

The Islanders (36-27-12) lost for the third straight time against the Rangers, but managed to pick up a point and tied Carolina (38-29-8) and Montreal (39-31-6) for the last playoff spot in the East.

A penalty to Hill cost the Islanders in overtime. The veteran defenseman hooked Jaromir Jagr behind the net with 1:13 remaining in overtime, giving the Rangers a 4-on-3 advantage.

Just 24 seconds later, Shanahan fired a shot from the top of the left circle and Nylander, who was planted in the front of the net, deflected it past DiPietro for his 23rd goal of the season.

"A tip is a tip," Nylander said. "You don't know where it's going to go. I felt pretty open and I think it hit the post (and went in)."

As the Rangers celebrated, Hill came out of the penalty box and yelled at the officials.

"It was behind the net and didn't affect the play," Hill said of the penalty. "I dropped my stick the first chance I got."

"Hill went to hit a pretty good player (Jagr) in the league and that pretty good player knows how to get the stick so it looks like he's being hooked," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said. "Sometimes the refs get fooled."

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 shots for the Rangers, who visit Montreal on Tuesday. He made 40 saves in New York's 2-1 shootout win at Boston on Saturday afternoon.

"I think it's fun to play tight games," Lundqvist said. "I was tired early in the third, but you stay focused. It's a challenge. If you let down a second, it goes in."

The Rangers got a goal from their fourth line of Blair Betts, Colton Orr and Hollweg when Orr scored on a wraparound with 9:23 left in the second period, jamming the puck past DiPietro at the left post. It was Orr's second goal of the season and first in 18 games.

The Islanders tied the game on a power-play goal by Alexei Yashin with 12:23 left in the third period. Former Ranger defenseman Tom Poti flicked a shot toward the net from the left circle that Yashin deflected in the crease. Lundqvist made the save, but Yashin nudged the puck between the goaltender's pads on his second try. It was just Yashin's second goal in his last 14 games.

The Rangers had killed off 38-of-39 penalties before Yashin's goal. The Islanders converted just 1-of-9 power-play opportunities.

"The guys should get the credit," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "They know how to manage the puck. Henrik has been terrific. We blocked shots, we got sticks in. Everyone has to jump together to apply pressure. You can't be disjointed."

The Islanders won the first four games of the season series before the Rangers bounced back to win the last three. The final meeting will be here on April 3.

"We played well enough to win today but we didn't get the breaks," Nolan said. "Now we get ready for the next one."

The Islanders host New Jersey (43-23-8) on Tuesday.