NEW YORK — Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist, Semyon Varlamov stopped 27 shots for his 36th career shutout and the New York Islanders beat the rival Rangers 3-0 on Friday night.

Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin also scored for the Islanders, who have won three straight and seven of 10. Varlamov, who had 10 shutouts last season – including four against the Rangers – got his second this season.

Long considered out of the playoff picture, the Islanders pulled within 13 points of Washington for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with 15 games remaining – one more than the Capitals.

Igor Shesterkin finished with 15 saves to fall to 32-10-3. The Rangers snapped a four-game winning streak and lost for just the third time in 11 games. They lost at home for just the second time in seven games – both against the Islanders, who have won six of their last seven visits to Madison Square Garden.

Varlamov, starting on consecutive nights for the first time in his three seasons with the Islanders, had seven saves in the first period, 12 in the second and eight in the third to improve to 9-13-2. He blanked the Rangers for the fourth straight time at MSG.

SABRES 4, PREDATORS 3: Victor Olofsson scored the go-ahead goal with 5:35 left in the second period, and Buffalo extended its point streak to eight games with a win over Nashville in Buffalo, New York.

Tage Thompson scored twice, including his Sabres-leading 30th goal, and Buffalo continued its late-season surge (5-0-3) despite being all but mathematically out of playoff contention. Peyton Krebs had a goal and assist and Craig Anderson stopped 22 shots in a game Buffalo never trailed.

The Predators had a two-game winning streak snapped and blew an opportunity to gain ground in a tightly contested Western Conference playoff race, in which they hold the first of two wild-card spots.

Filip Forsberg got his team-leading 38th goal, while Jeremy Lauzon and Michael McCaron also scored for Nashville. Juuse Saros stopped made 31 saves.

LIGHTNING 5, BLACKHAWKS 2: Ross Colton scored two goals and added an assist, Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point each had a goal and an assist, and Tampa Bay won at home.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves and improved to 13-0-0 against the Blackhawks in the regular season. He went 1-1 during the 2015 Stanley Cup final in which Chicago beat the Lightning in six games.

Brandon Hagel added an empty-netter in his first game against his former team.

Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper coached his 700th NHL game, becoming the 49th to do it. He is 426-215-59.

SENATORS 5, RED WINGS 2: Recently acquired Mathieu Joseph scored three times in the third period for his first career hat trick, Mads Sogaard made 27 saves in his NHL debut and Ottawa won in Detroit.

Joseph’s three goals were his first for Ottawa since being dealt from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline.

Josh Norris, playing in his home state for the first time in his pro career, scored on a power play for his 27th goal for the Senators. Austin Watson added a short-handed goal.

The 6-foot-7 Sogaard, a 2019 second-round draft choice, was promoted from Belleville of the American Hockey League earlier this week. He became the second goaltender of Danish descent to appear in an NHL game, joining Frederik Andersen.

Rookie Lucas Raymond scored both goals for the Red Wings, who are winless in their last five games. Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves.

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