Varlamov makes 25 saves, Islanders harm Rangers playoff hopes in shutout

NEW YORK --Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves for his NHL-leading sixth shutout of the season, and the New York Islanders kept pace in the MassMutual East Division playoff race with a 4-0 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

The Islanders, third in the East, maintained a one-point lead on the fourth-place Boston Bruins, who won 5-2 against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
"There was a lot to like about that [game]," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "We were connected in all three zones. We just stayed with it. I liked the fact that we didn't deviate the whole game. We were hard to play against. It was probably frustrating for them and it was our game."
Leo Komarov scored his first goal of the season for the Islanders (30-15-5), who were coming off three straight losses to the Washington Capitals, including two 1-0 defeats.

Igor Shesterkin made 23 saves for the Rangers (26-19-6), who had won three in a row.
The Rangers, fifth in the East, are six points behind the Bruins, who have played two fewer games. Two of the four Stanley Cup Playoff beths from the division remain after the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins qualified Thursday.
"It's not what we envisioned, it's not what we expected," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "It's just something that we're going to have to learn from. Obviously, a game of this magnitude, we've got to learn how to win games like this."
The Rangers and Islanders play for the final time in the regular season at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday. The Islanders have won five of seven against the Rangers.
"Any loss at this point in the season is going to be demoralizing, but we've still got some games left and we're just going to keep playing," Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said. "How things shake out, it's obviously a tough situation we've put ourselves in, but we're going to just keep playing hard and try to get wins."
It was Varlamov's third shutout against the Rangers this season, each at Madison Square Garden. He made 24 saves in a 4-0 win here on Jan. 14, and 30 saves in a 2-0 victory on Feb. 8.
Varlamov is the first goalie in the NHL expansion era (since 1967-68) to have six shutouts in a season of 56 games or fewer, and the first goalie to shut out the Rangers three times at home in the same season.
"I like to play at Madison Square Garden," Varlamov said. "Every time I play here, it's very special for me. There's a lot of history in this arena."
Komarov, a healthy scratch the previous two games, scored with a far-side one-timer from the right circle at 6:27 of the first period to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. It was his first regular-season goal since Feb. 21, 2020.
"I'm just trying to play hard and play as good as I can," Komarov said. "Maybe it doesn't look good, maybe it looks good. I don't really care as long as the team wins. I'm happy for that."
The Islanders were outshooting the Rangers 6-0 when Komarov scored.
"I know it was early and it's only 1-0, but I just didn't love the feel after that," Quinn said. "Then they made it 2-0. They just did everything they needed to do. They stayed on top of us, they took away time and space [and] made it difficult for us to get inside. Just made for a long night."

Oliver Wahlstrom extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal off a short-side wrist shot from the top of the left circle at 12:39 of the first. It was Wahlstrom's first goal in 11 games he's played since March 27.
"I was just grinding a little bit the last couple of weeks," Wahlstrom said. "The most important thing is just this win. Yeah, it's awesome I scored a goal, but the win was just special for the room and everybody involved. We just carry on from this and get our game back to where it should be."
Anthony Beauvillier scored from the right hash marks to make it 3-0 at 1:03 of the second period.
Mathew Barzal scored for the first time in 13 games with an empty-net goal after coming out of the penalty box at 14:26 of the third period for the 4-0 final. The Rangers pulled Shesterkin during the power play to create a 6-on-4 advantage.
"It's disappointing and frustrating and all of the above to sit here and have the game go the way it did, lose tonight 4-0," Quinn said. "There really wasn't much to like about our game in any capacity tonight."
NOTES: Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren left the game after crashing headfirst into the curved glass at the end of the bench at 4:30 of the third period. There was no update. … Rangers forward Chris Kreider (maintenance) missed his first game of the season. Quinn said Kreider is day to day and expects to know more Friday about his status for the game Saturday. … Islanders forward Travis Zajac was a healthy scratch for the second time in four games. … Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson was plus-1 in 13:59 of ice time after he was a healthy scratch in the 1-0 loss to the Capitals on Tuesday.