Maple Leafs 5, Rangers 4. Kings 3, Islanders 2 in overtime. Two rallies end short.

The Rangers and Islanders both found a third-period equalizer Thursday. Neither found the winner. Toronto beat the Rangers 5-4 on Troy Stecher's goal with 28 seconds left in regulation. Los Angeles beat the Islanders 3-2 when Brandt Clarke scored 2:43 into overtime at UBS Arena.

Toronto settles it with 28 seconds left

The Rangers had tied Toronto 4-4 at 14:25 of the third on Alexis Lafreniere's goal. Adam Fox assisted on that goal and all three of New York's earlier scores, finishing with four assists. For more than five minutes after the equalizer, the teams were level. Stecher's late finish prevented the Rangers from taking the game into overtime.

New York had also led during the second period. Oliver Bjorkstrand tied the game 2-2 at 2:37, and Tye Kartye put the Rangers ahead at 6:30. Brandon Duhaime answered 90 seconds later. Kirill Marchenko's power-play goal at 19:09 sent Toronto into the second intermission ahead 4-3, leaving the Rangers to chase another equalizer.

Toronto finished with a 35-25 advantage in shots. Dylan Garand made 30 saves for New York; Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 for the Maple Leafs. Fox's four-assist night kept the Rangers in a game that repeatedly changed direction. It could not protect the tie once they had recovered it for the third time.

The Islanders recover two goals, then lose in overtime

The Islanders' comeback started from a larger deficit. Artemi Panarin scored twice in the first period for Los Angeles, at 5:51 and 16:37. Victor Eklund's power-play goal at 14:06 of the second cut the lead to one. Matthew Schaefer then tied it at 7:06 of the third.

New York put 43 shots on goal to the Kings' 27. Darcy Kuemper stopped 41 of them, allowing Los Angeles to reach overtime despite surrendering its early cushion. Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves for the Islanders. Clarke's winner, assisted by Adrian Kempe and Kuemper, gave the Kings the second point.

That is the distinction between the two New York finishes. The Islanders recovered a two-goal deficit and took a standings point from the game. The Rangers reached a tie late but lost before overtime. The shared frustration is the final goal; the route to it, and the points salvaged, were different.