UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- All the Islanders needed to beat the rival Rangers was to bring in a new hired gun.

His name is Kevin Weekes.

	The Islanders' Brad Isbister beats Rangers goalie Mike Richter for the game's first goal on Thursday night.

Weekes, acquired last Sunday from Vancouver, made 36 saves in his New York Islanders debut to beat the New York Rangers for the third time this season, 4-2 Thursday night.

"I'm just fortunate that way," said Weekes, who had his first NHL win and first shutout in separate contests against New York. "The Rangers, as far as pure talent goes, are one of the more talented teams in the league."

Claude Lapointe scored two second-period breakaway goals -- his seventh career two-goal game and second this season -- for the Islanders, who hadn't beaten the Rangers in eight games (0-7-1).

Rookie Jan Hlavac scored both Rangers goals for his first two-goal game. The Rangers hadn't lost to the Islanders since April 4, 1998.

"It's still a rivalry, although maybe not as big as it used to be," Petr Nedved said. "They get up for this game."

Lapointe's second breakaway of the night with 5:13 left in the second period capped off a wild 20 minutes and gave the Islanders their third lead.

After blocking rookie Kim Johnsson's shot from the blue line, Lapointe drove down the right-wing side on a partial breakaway and put a forehand shot into the far corner of the net to make it 3-2.

"He went down, I just closed my eyes and hopefully it goes in," Lapointe said. "It was just one of the lucky ones."

Weekes made two crucial saves to protect the lead during a third-period power play just before the Islanders scored an insurance goal.

On a short-handed 2-on-1, Niklas Andersson made a cross-ice pass to Jorgen Jonsson, who lifted a shot over a diving Mike Richter with 9:35 left for his fifth goal.

"Weekes was great," the Rangers' Theo Fleury said. "He made some big saves when it was 3-2 and 2-2."

It was the Islanders' first short-handed tally of the season, while the Rangers have yielded a short-handed goal in three straight games.

"I didn't mind the effort, but I hated the mental errors," Rangers coach John Muckler said.

Immediately following a 30-second stretch of the second period in which Mathieu Schneider was stopped by Weekes on a 2-on-1 rush and the Islanders were denied on two odd-man rushes, the Rangers tied it.

As the Rangers moved the puck up ice, Jamie Rivers flipped Eric Lacroix with a hip check, leading to a skirmish that landed three Islanders and two Rangers in the penalty box.

On the ensuing power play, Johnsson flipped up a shot that deflected off Hlavac and into the net, with 6:32 gone, for his fourth goal.

The Islanders took a 1-0 lead in the first on the power play.

Andersson attempted a pass that was deflected by Schneider right to Brad Isbister who beat Richter over the shoulder for his 11th goal.

The Rangers tied it with only 7.8 seconds left in the opening period when John MacLean skated into the Islanders' zone and moved the puck to Hlavac, who slipped it past Weekes.

Lapointe grabbed the lead back for the Islanders, who won for only the fourth time at home, 2:25 into the second period.

Johnsson had another shot blocked by the Islanders center, who this time raced down the left side on a breakaway. Lapointe skated across the crease and backhanded a shot by Richter, who made 24 saves.

"He knows I go to my backhand a lot," said Lapointe, who was stopped by Richter last season on a penalty shot. "Usually I try to go backhand right away, but this time I waited a split-second and got the five-hole. The penalty shot was always on my mind."

It was the Islanders' second sellout at Nassau Coliseum this season, with the other coming on the Rangers' first trip to Long Island on Oct. 11. The Islanders, who drew 16,297, have had only five home games with at least 10,000 in attendance.

"That was a lot of fun -- outstanding actually," Weekes said. "I've never played in the playoffs before, but this seemed like a playoff atmosphere."

Valeri Kamensky, who missed seven straight games, was activated from the injured list by the Rangers before the game.