UNIONDALE — Michael Grabner scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves as the New York Islanders took another step toward the playoffs with a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night. The Islanders won for the seventh time in nine games and moved two points ahead of the idle Rangers into seventh place in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia (17-19-3) is 12th in the East, five points behind the Rangers and the postseason cutoff. The Islanders, who won just two of their first 11 home games this season, have four consecutive wins at Nassau Coliseum. John Tavares and Casey Cizikas — into an empty net — scored 28 seconds apart in the final two minutes to put New York ahead 4-1. Jakub Voracek gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the first period. Penguins 5, Hurricanes 3: Beau Bennett and Evgeni Malkin scored 13 seconds apart in the third period, and Pittsburgh clinched the Atlantic Division title by beating free-falling Carolina. Brenden Morrow scored his first goal with the Penguins, Robert Bortuzzo added a goal, and Pascal Dupuis had an empty-netter and two assists. Joe Corvo and Bobby Sanguinetti scored early goals for the Hurricanes, and Riley Nash put them ahead 3-2 at 2:00 of the third. Blue Jackets 4, Sharks 0: Sergei Bobrovsky earned his fourth NHL shutout — all in his last 15 games — and newcomer Marian Gaborik had a goal and an assist, leading Columbus over San Jose. Matt Calvert, James Wisniewski and Ryan Johansen also scored for the Blue Jackets, who had lost their previous two games. Capitals 3, Canadiens 2: Alex Ovechkin scored his 26th goal and Jack Hillen netted his first as Washington stretched its winning run to five games by beating Montreal. Eric Fehr also scored for the Capitals, who are 6-0-1 in their last seven. They are 5-0 in April, during which Ovechkin has eight goals, and Nicklas Backstrom, who had two assists, has 11 points — all assists. Lightning 3, Senators 2: Steven Stamkos scored his 26th goal of the season in the third period, and Tampa Bay beat Ottawa. Stamkos snapped a 2-2 tie with a power-play goal off a pass through the slot by Vincent Lecavalier with 5:04 to play. Jets 4, Sabres 1: Aaron Gagnon scored his first NHL goal to help Winnipeg top Buffalo. Gagnon was playing in just his third game since he was called up from the AHL. Blues 1, Predators 0: Brian Elliott made 15 saves, and Alex Steen snapped a six-game goal drought to lead St. Louis over Nashville. Blackhawks 1, Wild 0: Marian Hossa's unassisted goal late in the second period lifted NHL-leading Chicago to its fifth win in six games. Stars 5, Kings 1: Ray Whitney and Vernon Fiddler both scored twice during Dallas' four-goal third period, and the Stars routed Los Angeles. — Agencies
