NEW YORK -- New York Islanders coach Jack Capuano asked for more than just offence from his top line when they took on the rival New York Rangers. John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Nash scored twice in the first period, but the Islanders erased a two-goal deficit for the second straight day and beat the Rangers 5-3 on Tuesday night. "There was a time during the first period that I was going to probably break that line up," Capuano said, "but I wanted to see how they handled it. I thought they responded as the game went on and did a good job." Nash didnt do any more damage, Vanek scored the tiebreaking power-play goal with 4:38 left, Tavares had three assists, and Okposo added two as the Islanders won for the ninth time in 11 road games. The Islanders have won two of the first three meetings with the Rangers. The teams will play twice more in the next 10 days, including outdoors at Yankee Stadium. "Division games are huge this time of year. Its nice to beat these guys," Tavares said. "They got those two early goals, but I think for the most part we were the better team. We did a good job ... and finished off the game. Big win. Character win." Vanek capped the comeback as the Rangers were trying to kill a penalty for too many men. Colin McDonald and defenceman Thomas Hickey scored in the second period to get the Islanders even. Matt Martin scored a rare goal in the first, and Frans Nielsen added an empty-netter. Kevin Poulin made 30 saves in front of a nearly full crowd on a snowy night in New York. "The secondary guys came up big," Capuano said. "Our top line struggled a little bit in the first, but they came around. Your best players have got to be your best players. We were fortunate with that break with the too many men, but we were able to capitalize." Nash posted his second straight multigoal game, and Chris Kreider added a goal for the Rangers, who had won three in a row. Cam Talbot made 32 saves while subbing for Henrik Lundqvist, who missed the game due to illness. It was the first time in eight games the Rangers allowed more than two goals. "We wanted the two points, and we put ourselves in a good position to get them," Nash said. "We didnt get the job done." The Rangers pressed hard in the final minute after Talbot was pulled for an extra skater, but couldnt tie it. Unlike Monday in a 4-3 shootout win at home over Philadelphia, the Islanders didnt wait until the third period to tie it. "It was a good win," Capuano said, "but weve got a stretch coming up where weve got to make sure that were focused and were committed and doing the right things." After Kreider restored the Rangers two-goal lead at 9:34 of the second with a power-play goal, Hickey began the comeback with his fourth of the season off a perfect feed from Okposo with 6:38 left in the period. Just 3:14 later, McDonald got to a rebound off a hard shot by Tavares and fired a drive that beat Talbot for his fourth of the season to tie it. "Youre up 3-1 and you think maybe you can get through the period and play a good solid third, but we didnt," forward Brad Richards said. "We made some mistakes. Some nights other teams will capitalize, and some nights you get away with it. We didnt get away with it." For the second straight game, Nash struck quickly and gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Nash took a pass from behind the net from Kreider and wristed a shot past Poulin at 1:02 -- 8 seconds faster than Sunday when he put New York in front against Washington. The Islanders put lots of pressure on the Rangers in their end, but couldnt get a shot past Talbot. When Okposo failed to cleanly handle a pass near the right circle, Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi spotted Nash alone at centre ice and sent a pass to him. Nash received the puck with his back to the Islanders net, and quickly turned up ice and came in on a breakaway. Nash shifted the puck several times on his stick before sliding a shot in at 11:07 for his 16th of the season, fifth in three games, and ninth in nine games. The Islanders got one back with 2:38 left in the first when Martin took a pass in the slot from Tavares and scored his third of the season. NOTES: Martin went 38 games without a goal, dating to Nov. 1 at Ottawa. Hickey netted his first in 12 games, dating to Dec. 29 at Minnesota. ... Nash netted the winning goal in the previous four games in which he scored. ... The Rangers signed G David Leneveu to back up Talbot. Lance Alworth Youth Jersey . TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie tweeted Monday morning that Callahan - who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, is now open to a six-year contract at less than $7 million per season. Joey Bosa Chargers Jersey . -- Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital Friday for observation due to minor complications from cancer treatments, his family said. http://www.chargersauthenticofficialonline.com/authentic-mike-williams-jersey.html .twitter.com/xBTpoAKLJk — Daryl Zerr (@darylzerr) May 29, 2014 @BarDown I give to you the @SquirrelsNCHL aka the Fighting Squirels. Joey Bosa Womens Jersey . Bayern winger Franck Ribery marked his league return after recovering from a cracked rib by scoring two goals and setting up two more as the league leaders inflicted the heaviest home defeat on Bremen in the Bundesliga. Mike Williams Chargers Jersey .Before a raucous sellout crowd, the Hawks won for the 29th time in 31 games to extend their Eastern-best record to 36-8.As usual, pretty much everyone chipped in.Four starters were in double figures and backup point guard Dennis Schroder led a spurt at the start of the fourth quarter that helped the Hawks pull away.WASHINGTON -- After yet another loss for his New York Knicks in whats been a trying -- not to mention 3-9 -- start to the season, Carmelo Anthony did not attempt to pretend everything is wonderful right now. "Its a very tough time," Anthony said. "This is a time where you could easily put your head down and mope around, but I cant do that." Taking their poor home-court play on the road, the Knicks allowed Washingtons John Wall to score 31 points and dropped into a last-place tie in the Atlantic Division by getting beaten 98-89 at the Wizards on Saturday night. "We didnt put a full 48 minutes together tonight," said Anthony, who led the Knicks with 23 points and 12 rebounds. "We played three-fourths of the game -- and that one quarter, they took advantage." Washington trailed 52-49 at halftime, but outscored New York 27-17 in the third quarter and never trailed again. Wall registered at least 30 points in consecutive games for the first time in his NBA career, after scoring 37 in a loss to Toronto on Friday. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft also had seven assists and a soaring block on Iman Shumperts layup attempt in the closing seconds. "John backed up last nights game with another really good game for him. Playing the right way, taking really good shots," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "When he plays and takes what (a) defence gives him -- (that) is the prime thing that he needs to do." Knicks coach Mike Woodson described his teams performance as "flat" and declared: "The only bright spot about tonight was Amare Stoudemire." Thats not a great sign when the best thing you can point to is that one of your many players who is either injured or returning from injury managed to play 21 1/2 minutes and contribute 12 points. Stoudemire surpassed his previous season best in points -- six -- by early in the second quarter, and he even delivered a forceful fast-break dunk. "We cant keep losing these games," said Stoudemire, whose club has the same record as the Brooklyn Nets..dddddddddddd. Marcin Gortat added 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Wizards, who have won three of four games to improve to 5-8. Martell Webster scored 19, and Bradley Beal 18, making up for a paltry six points from Washingtons reserves. J.R. Smith scored 15 for the Knicks, who shot only 44 per cent on field-goal tries and were awful at the foul line, finishing 6 for 15. Smith himself was 0 for 4. Knicks centre Tyson Chandler remains out with a broken leg, and they were without point guard Raymond Felton for a third consecutive game because of a sore back. Woodson went without a true point guard for stretches of the fourth quarter. Wall definitely noticed. "We know its a different team without Raymond," Wall said, "because Raymond does a great job of penetrating and getting shots for those guys." While theyd been decent on the road so far -- 2-2 entering Saturday, compared to 1-6 at home -- this was not the Knicks finest hour. In addition to missing Feltons direction and Chandlers pick-and-roll possibilities on offence, the defence had no one fast enough to slow down Wall at all. Wall started 7 for 7 on field-goal attempts and scored more than half of Washingtons points -- 17 of 33 -- over the games first 14 1/2 minutes. Later, his floater in the lane made it 76-69 entering the fourth. Apparently, Woodson figures it already is time for some 1-on-1 meetings with players to make sure the season is not slipping away. That included a chat with Anthony after practice Friday. "I just wanted to see where his head was," Woodson said, "and making sure that everybody stays the course. Not just Melo. Ive had some sit-downs with a few guys, just to let them know its still a long season and weve got to start picking it up." Notes: Woodson said that Felton is day to day. "Im sure when hes ready, hell let us know, but right now hes not," Woodson said. ... Wizards coach Randy Wittman is not sure when first-round draft pick Otto Porter will be able to play -- or even practice with his teammates. ' ' '