NEW YORK — It would have been interesting to see these two teams playing in a late-season game if the Islanders had had a better start to the season and weren’t so far out of the playoff race. Maybe the 24-point gap between the teams before they faced off dulled the normal intensity of a Rangers-Islanders game.
The Islanders, still barely alive in the playoff race, kept their recent surge going with a 3-0 win Friday night over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, their third straight win and their second straight over their rivals, to keep their slim hopes flickering for another day.
For the Rangers, the loss ended a four-game winning streak and kept them from gaining ground on Pittsburgh in the race for second in the Metropolitan Division.
