Halak makes 34 saves, Islanders top Rangers

NEW YORK -- The New York Islanders swept the season series with the New York Rangers with a 2-1 win at Barclays Center on Thursday.
Anthony Beauvillier scored, and Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves for the Islanders (34-37-10), who went 4-0-0 against the Rangers.

"I just wanted to win, get the 20th win tonight," said Halak, who is 20-26-6. "I'm glad it happened. We all know that we can play a little better, but we got a win."
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Islanders highlights]
Kevin Hayes scored for the Rangers (34-38-9), who have lost five of their past six games (1-4-1). Ondrej Pavelec made 20 saves.
"I thought we worked hard and got quite a few pucks at the net against a goaltender that's got our number the way [Halak] has right now," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "You need to get on the inside, you need to get more traffic and you need to create second opportunities. We didn't do that well enough.
"We didn't play a bad game, but offensively, we had to do a better job in front of their net, and we didn't."
Beauvillier gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead when he finished a give-and-go with Andrew Ladd from the edge of the right face-off circle at 7:27 of the second period. It was Beauvillier's 21st of the season and extended his goal streak to five games.
Hayes gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 4:25 of the first period. Brady Skjei took a slap shot from the point that hit the glass behind the net and bounced in front to Hayes, who knocked it past Halak for his 25th of the season.

Thomas Hickey tied it 1-1 at 4:55 of the second period when his shot from the left point deflected off Rangers defenseman John Gilmour past Pavelec for his fifth of the season.
Hickey's goal was initially credited to Anders Lee, which would have been his 40th of the season.
"I hoped it was, I wished it was," Hickey said. "I knew it changed direction, and right away they both [Lee and Jordan Eberle] said it didn't hit them. But you never know, Anders is so big, maybe it caught a piece of him. Unfortunately, it didn't."

Goal of the game

Beauvillier's goal at 7:27 of the second period.

Save of the game

Halak's save on Paul Carey at 17:05 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Hickey's goal at 4:55 of the second period.

They said it

"I thought we battled hard and we gave ourselves a chance. [Pavelec] did a good job tonight. He gave the team a chance to get something out of it, but we weren't able to do it." -- Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad
"I've always been treated since Day One very well. Obviously, even a lot of ups and downs and games that you play well, games that you don't … they've always stuck by me. They're really proud to have me here and made it a lot easier for me to just kind of grow into the player and the person that I am. I think I'm just appreciative of that. I'm not trying to look at it as it's the end, because obviously, that hasn't been determined. I've always wanted it to work out and stay, so that's still what I hope transpires. But obviously, that will come in the coming time ahead. I just want to finish the season and keep my focus there. But certainly, the support has always been fantastic." -- Islanders captain John Tavares, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1

Need to know

Hayes extended his point streak to five games (four goals, one assist). … The Rangers have yet to win in six games at Barclays Center (0-5-1), where the Islanders finished above .500 for a third straight season (19-18-4). … Halak is 11-3-0 against the Rangers since joining the Islanders prior to the start of the 2014-15 season.

What's next

Rangers: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; NBC, NHL.TV)
Islanders: At the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-D, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)