NEW YORK (AP) The New York Islanders invariably raise their game against the Rangers. This time they kept that trend – and a winning streak – against their crosstown rivals going with a shutout.Jaroslav Halak had a season-high 50 saves for his first shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory over the Rangers on Thursday night.Halak was masterful as the Islanders beat the Rangers for the third time in three meetings this season Juuse Saros Jersey , and 10th of the last 11. Josh Bailey, Jordan Eberle and Thomas Hickey each scored and rookie sensation Mathew Barzal had three assists to help the Islanders move into a tie with Columbus one point behind Carolina for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.Article continues below ...”This felt like a playoff atmosphere. It was intense,” the 20-year-old Barzal said. ”And Jaro has been our backbone. He made a lot of key saves. That was a must-win for us.”Halak, who faced 51 shots in a 4-1 home loss to Columbus on Tuesday night, had 15 saves in the first period, 14 in the second and another 21 in the third for his 42nd career shutout.Halak’s effort was the most saves for any goaltender this season in a shutout and one shy of the franchise record set by Glenn Healy on Jan. 16, 1990, against Vancouver.Halak said weariness is not a factor despite the barrage of shots he has faced in recent games.”I feel fine. It’s all about managing between games and getting enough rest,” said the 32-year-old netminder who improved to 18-18-4 this season.Henrik Lundqvist finished with 32 saves for the Rangers, who have lost six of eight overall and dropped to 0-4-1 in five visits to Barclays Center since the Islanders moved to the Brooklyn arena in 2015. The Rangers remained four points behind the Hurricanes Kyle Turris Jersey , who lost at New Jersey.The Rangers are 3-9-0 in their last 12 games as expectations grow they will make significant moves by the Feb. 26 trade deadline.”Last few weeks, slowly we are moving in the wrong direction not getting enough points,” Lundqvist said. ”The way things are going, it’s hard for us to score goals.”Bailey opened the scoring at 4:53 of first period with a power-play goal for his 15th goal of the season with Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei in the penalty box for tripping.”Getting the lead on the power play was nice and obviously Jaro was good,” Islanders coach Doug Weight said. ”It feels really good for him. Hopefully we can build on that.”Eberle made it 2-0 at 15:06 of the second when fired a loose puck past Lundqvist for his 20th. Nick Leddy got his second assist of the game on the goal.Hickey increased the lead to 3-0 at 3:57 of the third period with his third goal of the year on which Barzal recorded his third assist of the night.”Their goaltender has played extremely well against us. Tonight we had a real strong game and we weren’t able to get anything past him,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. ”I didn’t like the results but we worked real hard and did a lot of good things out there.”Barzal has nine assists in his last four games and 25 points in last 17 contests. The 20-year-old center has 16 goals and 46 assists for 62 points, most among rookies this season. He also has three goals and six assists in the three games against the Rangers.”Mathew is a great talent. He made some really great plays and certainly contributed to the win,” Weight added. ”We’ll take it.”NOTES: The Rangers have scored two goals or fewer in eight of last 12 games. … The teams meet again Brooklyn on April 5. … The Islanders scratched F Jason Chimera for the first time this season. He was replaced by Tanner Fritz. … The Islanders also scratched F Alan Quine and D Sebastian Aho. … The Rangers scratched F Paul Carey and injured D Ryan McDonagh. …. The Rangers were also without injured forwards Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich and defensemen Marc Staal and Steven Kampfer. …. Hickey’s goal gave him 100 points for his career.UP NEXTRangers: At Ottawa on Saturday.Islanders: At Carolina on Friday night. WASHINGTON — After taking a few days off for the holidays, the Washington Capitals will look to keep their early season momentum going Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes in a Metropolitan Division matchup.The Capitals have won seven of eight and 14 of their last 17 to take control of the division, including a 4-0 victory over Ottawa on Dec. 23 Youth Matt Irwin Jersey , and are winning thanks to contributions from every line. While Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov are the big scoring names, unheralded players such as Lars Eller and Brett Connolly have also stepped up to make Washington’s offense more lethal.“The coaching staff has a lot of faith in every single guy,” Connolly told The Washington Post. “We do have a lot of good depth and that’s definitely worked in our favor.”Article continues below ...Washington has 14 players with at least 10 points and five players with at least 10 goals, a testament to the kind of balance the Capitals are hoping to achieve from the top to bottom lines.“When you get guys down the lineup contributing, old, slow defenseman contributing, I think that’s good for team-building,” defenseman Matt Niskanen told reporters after Sunday’s game.With the Capitals coming off the holiday break, expect starter goaltender Braden Holtby to get the start between the pipes against the Hurricanes. He earned the victory in a wild 6-5 overtime contest when the teams faced off Dec. 14. In his career, Holtby is 13-6-0 with a 2.09 goals-against average and .935 save percentage with two shutouts in 19 appearances against Carolina.The Hurricanes were victorious heading into their break Womens Mattias Ekholm Jersey , earning a 5-3 triumph over Boston on Sunday to end a brief, two-game skid. As evidenced by its 15-15-5 record, consistency has been an issue for Carolina. The Hurricanes continue to be carried by Sebastian Aho, who leads the team in goals (14) and assists (24), and is coming off a four-point effort in the win over Boston.“When you score, you get more confidence. That’s how it goes,” Aho told the team’s website. “I’m feeling pretty good right now, but it’s not just me.”Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour was pleased with his team’s effort in the comeback win against Boston, and knows that a similar performance is needed if his team is to best the Capitals.“You could see from the start they were engaged, even when we got down P.K Subban Jersey , and it was nice to see,” Brind’Amour told reporters. “The level of engagement, really for 60 minutes, it was there.”The Hurricanes may turn to Petr Mrazek in net for Thursday’s contest after he picked up his sixth win of the season against Boston. Carolina has a way to go before it gets to Washington’s level of sustained excellence, but the Hurricanes are hoping to start with a win over the division leaders.“We can come back now feeling a little better,” forward Teuvo Teravainen said. “It’s still not where we want to be, but it’s getting better.”