Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves in his first start since March 19, Alexis Lafreniere and Colin Blackwell scored in the second period and New York Rangers beat the Islanders 4-1 on Friday night.
Georgiev improved to 7-1-0 in eight starts against the Islanders. Mika Zibanejad and K’Andre Miller also scored and Artemi Panarin had two assists for the Rangers.
Andy Greene scored and Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves for the Islanders.
New York Islanders' Mathew Barzal (13) spins away from New York Rangers' Filip Chytil (72), of the Czech Republic, during the first period of an NHL hockey game Friday, April 9, 2021, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP PhotoJason DeCrow)
The teams meet again on Sunday night at Nassau Coliseum.
CAPITALS 4, SABRES 3
Justin Schultz had a goal and two assists to help Washington beat Buffalo.
Washington star Alex Ovechkin scored his 21st goal of the season and No. 727 for his career, moving within four of Marcel Dionne for fifth on the NHL list. Brenden Dillon and Jakub Vrana also scored.
New York Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov (40), of Russia, reacts after giving up a goal to the New York Rangers during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, April 9, 2021, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP PhotoJason DeCrow)
Vitek Vanecek stopped 30 shots for his NHL rookie-leading 16th win. Washington stopped a two-game slide and improved to 6-0-1 against Buffalo this season.
Henri Jokiharju, Casey Mittelstadt and Tage Thompson scored for Buffalo.
PENGUINS 6, DEVILS 4
Bryan Rust scored two goals, Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists and Pittsburgh beat New Jersey.
Jared McCann, Brian Dumoulin and Colton Sceviour also scored and Casey DeSmith made 25 saves to help the Penguins win for the second straight night and eighth time in 11 games.
Miles Wood scored twice and Jack Hughes and Jesper Boqvist added goals for the Devils.