Kyle Palmieri’s late goal gives Islanders 2-1 win over Rangers

NEW YORK (AP) — Kyle Palmieri scored the tiebreaking goal with less than three minutes left in the third period and Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves as the New York Islanders beat the rival Rangers 2-1 Thursday night.

Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders, who are 4-0-1 in their last five games.

Chris Kreider scored his 40th goal — and league-best 21st on the power play — and Igor Shesterkin had 26 saves for the Rangers, who had won two straight.

Palmieri got his 11th goal of the season with 2:44 left with assists to defensemen Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock. Palmieri has points in six straight games and in nine of his last 10.

Sorokin was spectacular from the start as the Islanders continued their recent strong play against their longtime rivals at Madison Square Garden. The Islanders are 8-3-0 in their last 11 visits to Rangers’ home ice, winning three of four last season.

The matchup was the first at the Garden between the teams this season. This game was originally scheduled for Nov. 28 but was postponed because of COVID-19 issues with the Islanders.

The Rangers won the previous matchup this season, 4-1 at UBS Arena on Nov. 24 when the Islanders were missing seven regulars due to COVID-19 and three more players with injuries.

After a frenetic first period, which featured numerous end-to-end rushes and stellar goaltending at both ends, Lee finally broke through 49 seconds into the second on the power play.

Lee extended his goal-scoring streak to six games – during which he has nine goals – with his 23rd of the season. Assists went to Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson. Michael Grabner – in 2011 – is the only other Islanders player to score in six straight games in the last 26 years. And with the 207th goal of his career, Lee passed John Tonelli for 11th place on the franchise list. Lee also wears No. 27, which was retired for Tonelli two years ago.

Both goaltenders were outstanding from the start in a…