Kreider clips Isles in final seconds

Chris Kreider and the Rangers like they way they've been playing lately. Beating the Islanders for the second time in four days was a big confidence boost, too.

Kreider scored a power-play goal with 25 seconds left to give the Rangers their fourth win in five games, 3-2 over the Islanders on Thursday night.

“As the season's going we've started to do a lot of the little things that have given us opportunities to win games and be in games," Kreider said. “We've had a stretch here where we've definitely done a better job of that.”

With the Islanders' Derick Brassard off for cross-checking earlier in the final minute, Kreider stood at the right side of the net and knocked in the rebound of Mika Zibanejad's shot for the tiebreaking goal.

“Mika got a good shot off and it just sat there for me,” Kreider said.

Zibanejad and Tony DeAngelo also scored as the Rangers beat the Islanders for the fourth time in the last five meetings after losing 12 of the previous 13 matchups. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 38 shots to improve to 4-1-0 against the Islanders, who faced the Rangers at Nassau Coliseum for the first time in nearly five years.

The Rangers also won, 6-2, at home Monday night in the teams' first meeting of the season.

“They test your mettle, they test your mental toughness, they test your physical toughness," Rangers coach David Quinn said of the Islanders. "To come in here and get two points certainly is a great sign for growth.”

Josh Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier scored for the Islanders, and Semyon Varlamov finished with 25 saves.

“I thought we played well for the most part," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "We made a poor decision at the end and they capitalized on it.”

With the score tied, 1-1, and the Islanders on a power play, Jordan Eberle hit the crossbar 4:08 into the third period.

Seconds later, DeAngelo came out of the penalty box, grabbed a loose puck and skated up the left side on a 2on-1 rush. DeAngelo beat Varlamov high to the blocker side for his 12th goal, giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 4:16.

The teams were skating 4on-4 when Beauvillier tied it with 7:20 left. He fired the puck off the end boards, chased down a lively rebound and backhanded it past Georgiev for his 12th.