Isles shut out Rangers

ISLANDERS 2

RANGERS 0

Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin scored 2:05 apart in the third period to help Semyon Varlamov and the Islanders beat the Rangers, 2-0, on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

Varlamov stopped

30 shots for his third shutout this season

— second against the Rangers — as the Islanders won their second consecutive game. Islanders coach Barry Trotz earned his 850th victory, passing Ken Hitchcock for third place on the NHL’s career list.

“If you look at his track record, everywhere he’s gone success has followed him,” Martin said of Trotz. “He along with Lou (Lamoriello) and the rest of the coaching staff built a strong culture, make us play the right way and hold us accountable every single night. He’s a coach every guy in the room loves playing for.”

Igor Shesterkin stopped 28 shots, but the Rangers’ four-game point streak ended.

Cal Clutterbuck’s aggressive forecheck created a turnover in the third period and the Islanders capitalized. Adam Pelech fired a shot from the point and Cizikas stuffed home a loose puck at 11:15 to snap a scoreless tie. “We’re keeping our game simple and we’re playing to our strengths,” Cizikas said. “That’s creating chances and it’s turning into success for our line. The way we’re playing and the way we’re jelling right, it’s a good feeling and it’s something we can build off of and get better at each game.”

COVID ICES DEVILS

Another week of Devils games has been wiped out as seven NHL games were postponed Monday because of COVID-19 problems.

Three upcoming Devils games, two Sabres games and two Wild games have been postponed, with no clarity yet on new dates. The Devils won’t play Thursday or Saturday against Philadelphia or next Monday against Boston and have 16 players on the league’s COVID protocols list.