Nylander lifts Rangers past Islanders with overtime goal

Michael Nylander deflected in Brendan Shanahan’s shot late in overtime to give the New York Rangers a 2-1 victory over the Islanders on Sunday in Uniondale, N.Y., marking the first game between the bitter metropolitan rivals since Chris Simon’s stick attack.

Nylander planted himself in front of Rick DiPietro during an overtime power play and knocked the puck in with only 48.9 seconds showing. It gave the Rangers their fifth straight victory and moved them past idle Tampa Bay into sixth place in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff chase.

The Islanders, playing their eighth game since Simon was suspended for the rest of the season and playoffs for his two-handed stick swing at Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg on March 8, got a point and jumped into a three-way tie for eighth place.

Unlike Saturday when the Rangers had to kill off a penalty for over a minute in overtime at Boston, they went on the power play with 1:13 remaining when Islanders defenseman Sean Hill hooked Jaromir Jagr. After Nylander netted his 23rd of the season, Hill jawed at the officials.

Penguins 5, Bruins 0: At Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby had two goals and an assist to extend his league scoring lead and help the Penguins tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with a win over Boston.

Flames 3, Blackhawks 2: At Chicago, Roman Hamrlik scored off a faceoff with 6:11 left in the third period to snap a tie and Calgary defeated Chicago.

Blue Jackets 4, Blues 1: At Columbus, Ohio, Fredrik Modin scored his 20th goal of the season — and 400th of his career — in the Blue Jackets’ victory over St. Louis.

Avalanche 5, Canucks 4 (SO): At Vancouver, British Columbia, Brett McLean netted the only shootout goal after scoring twice in regulation to keep Colorado’s playoff hopes alive with a win over the Canucks.