Best of NHL: Isles top Devils to move to 4 points behind Bruins for East's final wild-card spot

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NEW YORK -- Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier scored to help the New York Islanders preserve their slim playoff chances with a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.

Jaroslav Halak stopped 26 shots as the Islanders pulled four points behind Boston for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. New York won at home for the first time since beating the Devils here on Feb. 19, going 0-4-1 at Barclays Center in between.

Halak has won both starts since being called up from AHL Bridgeport on March 23.

The Islanders might have suffered a big injury as captain John Tavares left the game late in the third period. Tavares fell awkwardly with 3:14 left while chasing a puck behind the Devils net, and immediately began clutching his left leg. He was helped off the ice and to the dressing room.

Adam Henrique scored and Keith Kincaid had 36 saves for the Devils, who are 2-13-4 in their last 19 games (see full recap).

Crosby leads Penguins past Rangers in shootout
NEW YORK -- Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist in regulation and then got the clinching goal in the shootout to lift Pittsburgh to a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers on Friday night, snapping the Penguins' four-game skid.

Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust also scored for Pittsburgh, and Matt Murray stopped 30 shots for his 29th win of the season.

Chris Kreider tied the score with 11.6 seconds left in the third period to force overtime. Nick Holden had a goal and an assist, Rick Nash also scored and J.T. Miller added two assists for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist finished with 32 saves as New York fell to 0-5-3 at home since beating Washington on Feb. 19.

Phil Kessel also scored in the tiebreaker for the Penguins, and Murray stopped Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello (see full recap).

Panarin, Crawford lead Blackhawks past Blue Jackets
CHICAGO -- Artemi Panarin had two goals, Corey Crawford made 32 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Friday night to reach the cusp of clinching the Central Division.

Panarin scored in the opening minute, then added an empty-netter with 44 seconds left for his 28th goal of the season. Marian Hossa also scored in the first period for Chicago, and Patrick Kane assisted on all three goals as Chicago extended its division lead to nine points over idle Minnesota.

The Wild have five games remaining and the Blackhawks have four.

Nick Foligno scored his 25th goal to end an eight-game drought and Sergei Bobrovksy made 21 saves, but the Blue Jackets lost for the second time in two nights (see full recap).

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