Rookie Brett Berard had his first career two-goal game for the visiting New York Rangers, who remained mathematically alive in the Eastern Conference wild-card race while all but ending the New York Islanders' playoff hopes with a 9-2 win on Thursday in Elmont,

It was your own imagination that put the pieces together around 11:30 or so, long past bedtime, shortly after the Islanders somehow blew a 3-0 third-period lead: Jude Drouin winning the overtime faceoff, pushing the puck to defenseman Bert Marshall, who slid it to his blue-line partner Dave Lewis, who dumped it into the Rangers’ zone.

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The 31-year-old Brodzinski, a career journeyman before settling into an NHL role the past two years in New York, earned a nod Wednesday morning as the Rangers’ nominee for the Masterton Trophy, which is given to the player who “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.”

Nearly a year ago, the New York Rangers eliminated the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 6 of a second-round series via a hat trick by Chris Kreider.

After a frustrating 8-5 loss to the Flyers on Wednesday night, the Rangers talked about the missed opportunities over the last couple of weeks to climb the Wild Card standings.