Rangers prove they can win indoors, too, beating Islanders 4-1 with 3 goals in 3rd period

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Derick Brassard scored the go-ahead goal with 7:46 left in the third period and the New York Rangers used late offence to beat the New York Islanders for the second straight game, 4-1 on Friday night.

With the teams skating 4-on-4 and the Rangers taking advantage of a delayed penalty, Brassard took a cross-zone feed from defenceman Marc Staal and fired a shot past Evgeni Nabokov to give his team a 2-1 lead.

Brad Richards provided insurance with 5:01 remaining, ripping a drive in off Nabokov, and Ryan McDonagh added an empty-net goal with 1 second left.

Staal had two assists and Henrik Lundqvist made 38 saves for the Rangers, who have won three straight and six of eight.

Brian Boyle gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the first period before Kyle Okposo tied it in the second.

The Rangers topped the Islanders 2-1 outdoors at Yankee Stadium on Daniel Carcillo's third-period goal Wednesday night and won the season series 3-2. The teams met for the third time in 11 days.

Nabokov made 33 saves for the sliding Islanders, who dropped their fifth straight (0-4-1) after winning seven of nine.

They controlled play in the second period, holding an 18-6 edge in shots, and got even on Okposo's 24th goal. During a power play, the Islanders spent much of the advantage in the Rangers zone and tied it 5 seconds after McDonagh left the penalty box.

Calvin de Haan fired a shot from inside the blue line at the right point that Lundqvist knocked away. But the puck came to Okposo near the left post. He settled it down and sent a shot in to make it 1-all with 5:32 left in the second.

Okposo got right back on the score sheet after being blanked at Yankee Stadium. He has scored a goal in five of seven games and has six assists in that span.

The Rangers held a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period after outshooting the Islanders 14-12. They recorded the first six shots, but later trailed 11-9 before going back on top.

Boyle scored his fourth of the season and 50th in the NHL when he deflected Staal's shot from the centre of the blue line off the crossbar and past Nabokov at 3:29. It was Boyle's first goal in 12 games but his third point in three games after he posted an assist in each of the two Yankee Stadium contests.

After weathering the early Rangers onslaught, the Islanders generated plenty of pressure and drew the only power play of the period when Brassard held de Haan in the offensive zone. The Islanders had four shots on the advantage.

Lundqvist's best stop of the period came when he slid across the crease to get his right pad on a one-timer by Josh Bailey in tight. Lundqvist later used his left pad to block Okposo's hard drive from the slot.

NOTES: The Rangers honoured longtime television voice Sam Rosen before the game for 30 years with the team. ... Boyle has 95 points in 365 NHL games. ... Nabokov made his second straight start after returning from injury in a relief role on Monday.