Roman Hamrlik and Oleg Kvasha scored 21 seconds apart in the third period to rescue New York from another collapse against Ottawa and lift the Islanders to a 5-2 victory Monday over the Senators.
Cliff Ronning scored twice in his fourth game with the Islanders, and Jason Blake added a goal to give New York just its second home win against Ottawa in 19 games.
"I look at it as two points rather than who we beat," Islanders coach Steve Stirling said. "Yes, it's nice, but the points are the most important thing."
PHOTO: AFP
The 38-year-old Ronning, signed 10 days earlier as a free agent, notched his 300th NHL goal to make it 5-2 with 6:09 left. He has three goals this season.
"I was skating with beer-league players before I came here, and I realized how much I loved the game," Ronning said. "Even at 40 or 50, you may not be able to live this dream of playing in the NHL, but you realize how much you play the game for the love of it."
New York built a 2-0 lead it carried into the third period, but Ottawa got even when Chris Neil and Daniel Alfredsson scored 1:08 apart.
The Senators missed a chance to take over first place in the Eastern Conference, losing for just the second time in 17 games. Ottawa lost the season series to New York for the first time since the 1993-1994 season.
Bruins 5, Rangers 2
In Boston, Sergei Samsonov scored a goal and added two assists to lead the Boston Bruins past the New York Rangers for their sixth win in seven games.
Joe Thornton put Boston ahead with a power-play goal, burying a rebound for his 11th of the season. Brian Rolston, Glen Murray and Jiri Slegr also scored for Boston.
Andrew Raycroft made 34 saves for Boston, the 19th time in 29 complete games this season in which he's allowed two goals or fewer.
Blues 2, Panthers 1, OT
In Sunrise, Florida, Pavol Demitra's second goal of the game 48 seconds into overtime gave the St. Louis Blues a victory over the Florida Panthers.
The Blues snapped a three-game road losing streak. They hadn't won away from home since beating Columbus on Dec. 29.
Olli Jokinen scored for Florida, which has only one victory in its last 12 games against St. Louis.
Blues goaltender Chris Osgood finished with 21 saves while Roberto Luongo stopped 32 shots for the Panthers.
Avalanche 5, Lightning 4, OT
In Tampa, Florida, Milan Hejduk scored his second goal of the game on a penalty shot 59 seconds into overtime, giving Colorado a victory over Tampa Bay.
It was only the third time an NHL game ended on a penalty shot in overtime. Philadelphia's Michal Handzus scored against the New York Rangers on Dec. 5, 2002, and Nashville's David Legwand also beat the Rangers on Dec. 23, 2000.
Hejduk, who also had two assists, was awarded the penalty shot after getting tripped.
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