UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- It took a while for the New York Rangers to figure out Kevin Weekes.

After three losses this season -- two while he was with Vancouver -- the Rangers scored four times against the new Islanders goalie Saturday in a 5-2 victory over their Long Island rival.

	Rangers goalie Mike Richter held the fort with 30 saves Saturday despite pressure from the likes of Brad Isbister.

"He was sensational in the first period, then he just blew up," Rangers coach John Muckler said.

Rangers forward Jan Hlavac scored two goals at Nassau Coliseum for the second time this season.

Weekes, acquired in a trade last month, stopped 14 of 16 shots he faced in the opening period, but then gave up two goals in four shots as the Rangers opened a 4-1 second-period lead. He was then replaced by rookie Roberto Luongo.

"If Kevin Weekes doesn't make some big saves in the first period, they certainly would have had a few more goals," Islanders coach Butch Goring said. "There are some games where your goaltender is not going to get any breaks. That was the case with him today."

Weekes had stopped 87 of 90 Rangers shots coming in.

"All good things come to an end sometime," Weekes said. "I wasn't as sharp as I was in the first 10 periods I played against them."

Hlavac, the left wing on the Rangers' new Czech line with Petr Nedved and Radek Dvorak, has scored four of his six goals on the road against the Islanders, the team that drafted him in 1995 and traded his rights away three years later.

"This was a regular game," Hlavac said. "I just got lucky against the Islanders."

Nedved scored once and set up both Hlavac goals. Dvorak assisted on Nedved's 12th goal of the season.

The Rangers, who had not played in six days, got the second half of the season started on a positive note. Their slow start has them in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and out of a playoff spot.

"We've got to play this kind of game all the time," Muckler said. "We can't just talk about it, we have to go out and do it. We know what we have to do."

The Islanders lost for the eighth time in 10 games (1-8-1).

Just 50 seconds in, Hlavac gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead when he took a pass from Nedved and beat Weekes with a wrist shot. Defenseman Mathieu Schneider got his 250th career assist.

Jorgen Jonsson tied it with his eighth goal at 12:45, just minutes after missing a wide-open net.

A three-goal spurt by the Rangers in 5:56, spanning the first and second periods, put away the game.

The Rangers made it 2-1 on Nedved's short-handed goal with only 52 seconds remaining in the first. The goal was the first the Rangers have scored this season while short-handed.

The Islanders' power-play woes continued as they failed to score with the man-advantage for the eighth straight game. The Islanders, who have the NHL's worst home power-play, went 0-for-4 Saturday and have not had a power-play goal in their last 29 chances.

The lead grew to 3-1 when Hlavac scored a very patient goal. The left wing held the puck in the right circle and waited for the perfect opportunity to wrist in a shot at 3:42.

"It was great to see," Nedved said. "We have to keep playing that way."

Valeri Kamensky scored his second goal of the season on a partial breakaway at 5:04. That sent Weekes to the bench in favor of Luongo, who allowed one goal in 16 shots against.

Richter, the Rangers' only All-Star selection, made 30 saves.

The Islanders closed to 4-2 with 10:11 left on Mats Lindgren's ninth goal before Theo Fleury's 11th goal with 1:49 remaining closed the scoring.

The Islanders announced that Bill Muckalt, acquired with Weekes, will miss the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury that requires surgery.