NEW YORK _ His ice time had steadily decreased as he sunk to the fourth line and was taken off the power play and it seemed Anthony Beauvillier, following a solid sophomore season, was in danger of losing his roster spot with the Islanders.
But the left wing, with just one goal _ one point _ over his first 16 games this season, made the most of an opportunity created by injuries, netting his first career hat trick and adding an assist as the Islanders continued their recent mastery of the rival Rangers with a 7-5 win on Thursday night at Barclays Center.
Beauvillier had instant chemistry with third-line center Valtteri Filppula, who had three assists, and Leo Komarov, who made it 6-3 at 9:56 of the third period. The Islanders then held on and needed Cal Clutterbuck's empty-netter with 20.3 seconds remaining _ his second goal in two games after enduring a 51-game goal-less streak _ to secure the victory.
The Islanders (10-6-2), who have won the first two games of a three-game homestand, have now won all seven of their games against the Rangers (9-8-2) in Brooklyn since moving from Nassau Coliseum and are on a 12-1-0 streak against them overall. Thomas Greiss made 36 saves after stopping 22 shots in Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Canucks.
Earlier in the day, the Islanders, who went 2 for 5 on the power play after going 1-for-18 over the previous four games, placed left wings Andrew Ladd (lower body) and Matt Martin (upper body) and center Casey Cizikas (lower body) on injured reserve.
That opened ice time and a spot back on the power play for Beauvillier, 21, who had logged a season-low 7:42 on Tuesday and just 8:39 in Saturday's 4-2 loss at Florida.
Beauvillier, who now has the sixth-most goals on the team after compiling 21 goals and 15 assists in 71 games last season as Mathew Barzal's linemate, completed his hat trick at 5:13 of the second period by tipping defenseman Johnny Boychuk's blast from the right boards for a power-play goal and a 4-3 lead.
Beauvillier had given the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 2:24 of the second period as Filppula, from the Islanders' blue line, fed Beauvillier at the Rangers' blue line for a breakaway.
Anders Lee, tipping defenseman Nick Leddy's shot past Henrik Lundqvist, who was pulled after allowing five goals on 17 shots in two periods, gave the Islanders a 5-3 lead on the power play at 14:04 of the second period.
The complete team effort allowed Barry Trotz, who spent the past four seasons coaching the Capitals and was unaware of the Islanders' recent success against the Rangers, to fulfill his pregame wish.
"Hopefully, this group and myself don't screw that up," Trotz said.
Not that Trotz puts much stock in past performance as it pertains to the present.
"I think it sort of gets wiped clean each season but there's always teams that you seem to do better against," Trotz said. "Why? I have no idea."
The Islanders responded quickly in the first period after spotting the Rangers a two-goal lead as Chris Kreider beat Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech to the crease at 5:00 of the first period and Brett Howden stripped Boychuk of the puck and fed defenseman Fredrik Claesson 35 seconds later.
But Beauvillier tipped defenseman Thomas Hickey's point shot to bring the Islanders within 2-1 at 9:35 and Brock Nelson, with his team-high ninth goal of the season, tipped defenseman Nick Leddy's point shot to tie the game at 2 at 10:38.
Filppula, 34, had the secondary assist on Beauvillier's first goal to reach the 300-assist milestone for his career.
