Rangers win first at Barclays

Finally break jinx at Brooklyn arena

Mats Zuccarello’s wellplaced skate Saturday sent New York back to Manhattan happy.

Zuccarello scored late in the third period, redirecting a shot from the point with his foot to lift the Rangers past the Islanders, 2-1, for their first victory at Barclays Center.

Filip Chytil also scored and Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves to help the Rangers win in Brooklyn for the first time since their intra-city rivals began playing home games there in 2015.

The Islanders had been 132-0 in the teams’ previous 15 meetings overall.

“We didn’t talk about it before the game or anything, but I was well aware,” Marc Staal said. “It was nice to see that goal go in during the third and us able to hang on and get a win.”

Devils

Nine games into his NHL career, Mackenzie Blackwood is starting to emerge as the New Jersey’s No. 1 goaltender. Blackwood returned to the lineup after missing three games with an injury and made 32 saves in leading the Devils to a much-needed 3-2 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers. Blackwood, 22, who was called up from Binghamton after Cory Schneider went on injured reserve, is 4-2 in seven starts and two relief appearances. He has allowed two or fewer goals in eight of his nine appearances, including one where he had to leave after one period because of a lower-body injury that forced him to miss three games.

Philadelphia

Carter Hart gave the Flyers a chance against New Jersey by making 23 saves. The Flyers are the fourth team in NHL history to use seven goaltenders in one season. The previous time the Devils and Flyers started rookie goaltenders was 1987 when Craig Billington was in net against Ron Hextall. Hart, 20, is 3-5-1 in nine games for the Flyers.

Capitals

Cam Atkinson scored his 25th goal of the season and Artemi Panarin connected in overtime as Columbus beat Washington, 2-1, after the defending Stanley Cup champions lost All-Star goaltender Braden Holtby to an eye injury. Holtby took a stick to the left eye from Atkinson through his mask in the second period. He left the game, giving way to backup Pheonix Copley. Holtby’s injury is being evaluated.