Islanders, Rangers Nab NHL Victories

After a sluggish start, the New York Islanders picked up their intensity in the second period and got a needed victory.

Brock Nelson and Matt Martin scored 21 seconds apart in the second and the Islanders beat the Ottawa Senators 3-1 Wednesday night to snap a season-high four-game losing streak (0-3-1).

John Tavares also scored in New York's three-goal second period and rookie goalie Jean-Francois Berube, making just his fourth career start, stopped 22 shots.

"We executed well," Tavares said. "(Berube) was great all game. He was really big for us. He really did a solid job back there."

New York, holding the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, was desperate for a win to strengthen its playoff push after going 1-4-2 in its previous seven games while getting outscored 22-11.

Bruins 5, Rangers 2

The New York Rangers had one of those games where almost everything went right: The passes, the goals, the officials' calls, the video replays and, of course, Henrik Lundqvist in goal.

It was par for the course for the Boston Bruins. Keith Yandle set up two first-period power-play goals and Lundqvist made 39 saves in a 5-2 win on Wednesday night that sent the Bruins to a season-high fourth straight loss.

"It's a tight game and for a couple of games it was going against us," Lundqvist said. "The last two games we've been getting a couple of bounces, and you need it.

"When you get them, a lot of times you saw you earned them. When they go against us, you say you have bad luck. But it was a good game for us, a good test and this was exactly the type of response we needed."

Wednesday, March 24 Scoreboard

NY Islanders 3, Ottawa 1

NY Rangers 5, Boston 2

Thursday, March 24 Schedule (All Times Central)

Florida at Boston, 6 p.m.

New Jersey at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.

Carolina at Columbus, 6 p.m.

Anaheim at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Montreal at Detroit, 6:30 p.m.

Vancouver at Nashville, 7 p.m.

Calgary at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Los Angeles at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.

Philadelphia at Colorado, 8 p.m.

Dallas at Arizona, 9 p.m.

Edmonton at San Jose, 9:30 p.m.