Kreider's late goal lifts Rangers past Islanders

UNIONDALE, N.Y. --Chris Kreider scored a power-play goal with 24.6 seconds left in the third period, and the New York Rangers defeated the New York Islanders for the second time in four days, 3-2 at Nassau Coliseum on Thursday.

After Derick Brassard was called for cross-checking at 19:06, Kreider scored the winner on a rebound at the right post.
The Rangers went 2-for-5 on the power play. The Islanders were 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Islanders highhlights]
"[Artemi Panarin] getting set up on the half wall, I think it was kind of flipped around, he made a play into Mika [Zibanejad] and Mika got a good shot off," Kreider said. "It just sat there for me."
Alexandar Georgiev made 38 saves for the Rangers (23-19-4), who have won four of their past five games, including a 6-2 victory against the Islanders at Madison Square Garden on Monday. They will play again at the Garden on Tuesday.
"When you come in here against the team that's had the success they've had, they test your mettle, they test your mental toughness, they test your physical toughness," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "To come in here and get two points certainly is a great sign for growth."

Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves for the Islanders (28-14-4), who have lost three of their past four games (1-2-1).
"I thought our performance was good," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "At the end of the day, we took an unnecessary cross-checking penalty. I felt like we deserved at least a point and you see where that is."
Josh Bailey gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 19:09 of the first period on a one-timer from the right hash marks.

The Islanders outshot the Rangers 22-6 in the first period.
"I thought we were a little bit curious, I don't know if intimidated is the word, to see how this game was going to start," Quinn said. "I think our guys were kind of wondering what was going to happen in the first period and we kind of lost our pace of play."
The Rangers found it in the second period and tied the game 1-1 on a power-play goal by Zibanejad at 12:46.
After the initial shot trickled past Varlamov, Ryan Pulock tried to play the puck out of the crease, but his attempt hit Varlamov and Zibanejad's stick and crossed the goal line before he was able to glove it out.
The play was not initially called a goal on the ice, and play continued for another 1:12 before the NHL Situation Room informed the officials that the puck completely crossed the line.
"We saw it," Quinn said. "It was definitely in. We knew it was a goal."

Tony DeAngelo gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 4:16 of the third period, getting the puck after exiting the penalty box and skating in on a 2-on-1 before scoring top shelf past Varlamov's blocker.
Beauvillier tied it 2-2 at 12:40 during a 4-on-4 when he chipped the puck off the end boards from the neutral zone, skated around Brady Skjei and was able to slide it through Georgiev's legs.
"I was just hoping for a good bounce," Beauvillier said. "I tried it in the first and it wasn't the right play. It ended up working the second time."

They said it

"Just a real gutsy effort by our guys. Obviously, we knew they were to come out hard in the first period and they put the heat on us. Got out of it 1-0 and really thought we got back to the way we've been playing in the second period. … Just a [strong] effort." -- Rangers coach David Quinn

"Overall, it's just frustrating when you don't win the game and that's part of it, but we played good enough to win tonight and it comes down to a shot and a bounce. They were able to capitalize on it, and we're coming in here with a regulation loss." -- Islanders captain Anders Lee

Need to know

Jordan Eberle had to be helped to the Islanders dressing room at 15:29 of the second after getting cross checked into the right post by Ryan Lindgren. He returned for the third period and hit the crossbar eight seconds before DeAngelo scored. … The Rangers are 21-for-23 (91.3 percent) on the penalty kill in their past seven games. … It was the first Rangers-Islanders game at Nassau Coliseum since March 10, 2015. … Panarin had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (four goals, nine assists). … The Rangers are 10-1-0 against Metropolitan Division opponents since Nov. 7.

What's next

Rangers: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Islanders:Host the Washington Capitals on Saturday (Nassau Coliseum; 1 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG+, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)