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NEW YORK -- The New York Islanders are playing their best hockey of the season, and theyre doing it against some of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.Andrew Ladd scored in the second period and Jaroslav Halak stopped 36 shots to lead the Islanders to a 4-2 victory over the crosstown-rival Rangers on Tuesday night. John Tavares, Jason Chimera and Scott Mayfield also scored at Barclays Center to help the last-place Islanders improve to 4-0-1 in their last five games.Were playing a lot better hockey and we know we can still be a lot better so I think thats really the mindset, Tavares said. Lot of games here before Christmas. ... We know we can still do a lot of good things `til then. Were just starting the second quarter of the season.The Islanders last three wins have come against defending champion Pittsburgh and the Rangers -- tied atop the Metropolitan Division -- and Washington, which sits in one of the conferences wild-card spots.No secret if you want to make the playoffs, be a good team, you gotta beat some of the top teams in the league and certainly being able to do that has been big for us, Tavares said. Even though there still needs to be a lot of improvement, I think we all recognize theres some good building blocks going.Jimmy Vesey and Marc Staal scored for the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist finished with 28 saves. The Rangers have alternated wins and losses in regulation in their last eight games.I think its important for us not to look for any excuses and try to be there every night as good as we can, said Lundqvist, who fell to 1-6-1 in his last eight against the Islanders. Just have to dig a little deeper to get there.The Rangers went 0 for 6 on the power play, including a 6-on-3 advantage with Lundqvist pulled over the final 32 seconds.You gotta score those timely goals and we didnt do it tonight, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. We had the looks. I thought we battled hard. We tried to come back but their goalie without a doubt was the best player on the ice tonight and we didnt finish on our opportunities.After the Islanders took a 2-0 lead in the first period, the Rangers twice pulled within one but couldnt tie it before falling behind by two again.Vesey knocked in the rebound of a shot by Rick Nash for the rookies ninth just 56 seconds into the second to cut the deficit in half.The Islanders restored their two-goal lead 1:22 later when Shane Prince drove the net and had the puck poked away by Lundqvist. It went right to Ladd, who fired it in for his third.Staal pulled the Rangers to 3-2 when he took a pass from J.T. Miller on a 4-on-2 rush and fired it by Halak from the right faceoff dot for his third at 8:54. The assist gave Miller a team-high 20 points on the season.Tavares restored the Islanders two-goal lead off a pass from Josh Bailey from the top of the right faceoff circle on the power play for his seventh with 8:47 left in the third.Its always important to win games, Halak said. Beating the division rivals, its always huge for us, its always a four-point game. Coming out with two points against the Rangers is always a fun game to play.The Islanders were outshot 16-9 in the first period but took a 2-0 lead into the intermission.Mayfield got his first of the season in his third game as he took a pass from Cal Clutterbuck and fired a slap shot from near the boards outside the right faceoff circle past a screened Lundqvist at 7:03.The Rangers Matt Puempel was down on the ice for several minutes and left due to a concussion after taking a high stick from the Islanders Brock Nelson, who was whistled for a double-minor. The Rangers controlled the play for most of the four-minute power-play, firing eight shots at Halak, who stopped them all.Just as the penalty was expiring, Chimera brought the puck up the ice, waited for Nelson to join the play out of the box and sent the puck to him at the right side. Nelson skated up and fired a shot that bounced around in front, and Chimera knocked it in with 2:36 left for his fourth of the season and third in four games.Game notes The Rangers were without F Michael Grabner, the team-leader with 13 goals, while the former Islander was back in Austria for his grandmothers funeral. ... The Islanders improved to 8-1-2 when scoring at least three goals, 7-0-1 when leading after two periods, and 7-1-3 when scoring first. ... D Mayfield was called up from Bridgeport of the AHL to take the place of Johnny Boychuk, who was scratched due to flu-like symptoms. ... The Islanders had their second sellout of the season, and first since the opener against Anaheim on Oct. 16.UP NEXTRangers: At Winnipeg on Thursday night in the middle game of a three-game road swing.Islanders: Host St. Louis on Thursday night in the finale of a three-game homestand.---Follow Vin Cherwoo at www.twitter.com/VinCherwooAP. Nike React Element 55 Dames . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Nike React Element 55 Kopen .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. http://www.vapormaxsalenederland.com/ .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. Vapormax Flyknit 3 Heren . There was no hesitation from the 40th-ranked Pospisil, from Vernon, B.C., who admitted that he cut back on his training sessions over the last few days to conserve energy as the long ATP season finishes next week at the Paris Masters. Nike Vapormax Dames Sale . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman continues to be puzzled why hes become such a fascination for other players. But hes also aware of whos doing the talking. On Wednesday, it was New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz. On Thursday, Norman returned serve, without taking a direct shot.When youre at the top of your profession, someone is always trying to grab at you just because theyre not at the top of your profession, Norman said. You just have to extend down your arm and hand them an olive branch.The Redskins dont play the Giants until Week 3, but the momentum for that game started building the minute he signed with Washington in April because of his on-field battle with Giants wideout Odell Beckham Jr. in December.Cruz took a jab at Norman for not spending much time on Pittsburghs Antonio Brown on Monday night.Especially if he calls himself -- I dont call him this, he calls himself the best corner in the league -- then you have to go cover the best receivers on the other team, Cruz told reporters. Going in, I thought he was going to follow AB all over the place, but he didnt. So it is what it is. He made his choice.For Norman, its yet another player making yet another comment on his game. It happens often, and he became a bbig topic again this week after the Redskins decided not to have him isolated on Brown.ddddddddddddCrazy thing is, I guess if you say something, you get yourself on TV -- cause Im always on, Norman said. Add up the number of people who are saying something against me, compared to how many I say something to them, youll see the vast number of people. Wow.Norman said hes focused on Dallas, whom the Redskins host Sunday.Not somebody elses team that were not even playing this week, Norman said. Im sure they need to worry about their matchups. Lets keep it that way. Its like, Wow. You take it with a grain of salt.The buildup for Normans meeting vs. Beckham and the Giants will intensify next week. It became a minor topic in their locker room Thursday because of Wednesdays comments.Redskins receiver DeSean Jackson, for one, enjoys it.I love it, Jackson said. Let the people say what they want to say, get riled up. Were going to have to see them in two weeks. Whatever Vic feels he has to say, thats his opinion. He still has to go on the field and play against Josh so whatever you say, get ready to back it up when we come play yall. ' ' '