Nets go-ahead goal as Isles get within point of playoffs

The Islanders nearly got in their own way of their unlikely playoff push Thursday night, but they continue to find ways to win.

The Isles dug themselves into an early 1-0 deficit at Barclays Center after Andrew Ladd and Calvin de Haan collided, setting up a two-on-one rush for the Rangers as Mats Zuccarello found Nick Holden for an easy goal.

But Ladd would redeem himself, scoring the goahead goal in the second period and an empty netter to seal a 4-2 win over the Rangers as the Islanders moved to within one point of the Maple Leafs in the race for the final wild card spot.

“We’re playing meaningful hockey,” Ladd said after the game. “We’re putting ourselves back in a position where these games mean as much as they do. As players I think it’s fun to play in these games. They’re easy to get up for and we’re bringing it every night.”

The Islanders failed to bring it in their previous game, though, falling to Toronto, 7-1, making Thursday’s game against the Rangers that much more important.

“Sometimes you’re in the dog days of February,” interim coach Doug Weight said. “That can’t be it for us. It’s got to be an April, May mentality.”

Weight took over as Islanders head coach a month ago when they fired Jeff Capuano. Since then, they have gone 9-3-2, including an 8-0-2 record at home.

“We’ve been tough to play on home ice and used it to catapult back into contention,” Ladd said.

The Islanders proved that toughness, coming right back at the Rangers early in the second period when Anders Lee scored a power-play goal to tie the game.

The Isles carried that momentum 3:41 later when Stephen Gionta checked Rangers’ Marc Staal hard into the board behind the Blueshirts’ net, stealing the puck and finding Ladd in front of the net as he fired a shot past Henrik Lundqvist to give them a lead they would not relinquish.

The Islanders added goals from Nikolay Kulemin and an empty-netter from Ladd to seal the victory.