(My Sportsbook) - The New York Islanders had a chance to put the final nail in the high-priced coffin of the hated Rangers on Tuesday, but blew a two-goal third period lead and gave the floundering Blueshirts a ray of hope.

Alexei Kovalev scored late in the final stanza to keep the Rangers' slim playoff chances alive with a 2-2 tie against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.

"I'd be lying if I said we weren't disappointed," Snow said. "When you have a 2-0 lead, you have to close it out."

The Islanders remained three points ahead of the Rangers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders, however, need only one win in their three remaining games to clinch a playoff berth. The Rangers only have two games left and must win both and hope that the Islanders do not accumulate two points in their three remaining contests.

Snow stopped 35 shots and Alexei Yashin had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who are winless in their last three overall (0-2-1) and last five at home (0-4-1).

"Honestly, we don't care about them," Snow added. "They're not even a factor. We know what we have to do."

The Islanders grabbed the lead when Oleg Kvasha had the puck in the left corner and spotted a wide open Arron Asham charging toward the front of the net. Kvasha sent a perfect pass to Asham, who deflected the puck past Rangers netminder Mike Dunham and gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead with just 1:05 left in the opening period.

The lead was doubled early in the third period when Yashin found the net following a Randy Robitaille deflection that went wide. Robitaille's deflection caromed off the back boards and went right to Yashin, who placed the puck into a vacated Rangers net. Dunham was taken out of the play and was unhappy an interference penalty was not called. The Islanders, nonetheless, had a 2-0 cushion with 18:59 left in the contest.

Then after Brian Leetch pulled the Blueshirts within a goal, the Rangers were forced to pick up the momentum. The heavy pressure paid off when Eric Lindros was able to find Kovalev wide open on the doorstep. Snow had no chance to stop the puck as Kovalev slammed it past the goaltender's outstretched pad to tie the contest with just 3:59 left in regulation.

"We were trying to knock them out, so it was disappointing," Asham said. "Up 2-0 with 13 minutes left, it was very disappointing to let them back in the game."

UP NEXT

The Isles will try and eliminate the Rangers on Thursday when they head to Hockeytown to face off with the Detroit Red Wings. They will then close the regular season at home against Atlanta on Saturday and in Columbus on Sunday.