Islanders 3, Rangers 0: Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves to record his 34th career shutout while rookie Anders Lee and Nikolay Kulemin each scored for the second straight contest as the visiting Islanders cooled off their red-hot neighborhood rival.

Frans Nielsen netted the NHL-best seventh short-handed goal of the season for the Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders, who have won five of their last six at Madison Square Garden - including a 6-3 decision on Oct. 14. Defensemen Johnny Boychuk, Calvin de Haan and Travis Hamonic each notched an assist as the team finished its season-high seven-game road trip with a 5-2-0 record.

Henrik Lundqvist yielded three goals on 32 shots over two periods before being relieved by Cam Talbot (12 saves) for the Rangers, who saw their five-game winning streak come to an end with their second loss in 15 contests. Derek Stepan suffered an undisclosed injury and did not return to the ice for the third period.

De Haan's wrist shot from the point deflected off Rangers blue-liner Dan Girardi, but Lee alertly backhanded the loose puck home from the slot 8:49 into the second period to open the scoring. The Islanders doubled the advantage as Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein batted a puck out of the air to Kulemin, who promptly beat Lundqvist from the left faceoff circle at 16:31 of the session.

Nielsen capped his team's three-goal period by skating up the right wing and wristing a shot from the top of the right circle that handcuffed Lundqvist with 41 seconds remaining. Halak needed to make only six saves in the third period to secure his fourth shutout of the season while recording his fourth straight win and sixth in seven meetings with the Rangers.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Rangers RW Martin St. Louis competed in his 1,100th game and D Marc Staal celebrated his 28th birthday while playing in his 500th career contest. ... The Rangers nearly drew first blood late in the first period as LW Rick Nash hit the right post with his shot and C Derick Brassard's bid to clean up the rebound caromed off both posts. The Islanders also were denied early in the second as LW Matt Martin tapped home a loose puck, but the officials ruled that C Casey Cizikas made incidental contact with Lundqvist prior to the goal. ... The Islanders improved to 7-1-0 when recording at least 40 shots in a game.