They played earlier this afternoon in an ABC exclusive game seen on national TV. The rematch didn’t disappoint. Four days later, it was the Rangers who came out victorious over the Islanders.

It was earned. Artemi Panarin delivered in the clutch to lead the Blueshirts to a come from behind 3-2 win in the shootout over the Islanders at Madison Square Garden.

His game-tying goal came with 4:17 left in regulation. Held in check by a stingy Isles’ defense for most of the day, Panarin took advantage of a Vincent Trocheck faceoff win to fire home his team-leading 48th goal past Ilya Sorokin.

With their crosstown rivals clinging to a one-goal lead, the Rangers were able to draw even late in the third period. The Islanders iced the puck twice. That led to Trocheck winning the key offensive draw back to Panarin, who beat Sorokin from the left circle with a wrist shot to tie the game at two.

The big goal allowed the Rangers to force overtime. During the three-on-three, they had some good puck possession, but never tested Sorokin. A couple of unforced turnovers almost cost them.

Igor Shesterkin denied Mat Barzal after he stole an errant Panarin pass to get the best chance with seven seconds left in overtime. Shesterkin also delivered a huge stop on an Adam Pelech penalty shot with the Rangers trailing the Islanders 2-1 and under seven minutes remaining.

Panarin hooked Pelech from behind to set up the second Islanders’ penalty shot over four days. In a 4-2 loss at UBS Arena on Apr. 9, Barzal was stopped by Shesterkin 1:25 into the game. That’s twice that Shesterkin made key saves on penalty shots, adding another chapter to the historic rivalry.

In the shootout, Shesterkin was better than Sorokin. In the top of the first, Panarin came in and beat Sorokin with a forehand deke to the glove side.

Kyle Palmieri came out for the Islanders. He had Shesterkin beat, but his shot hit the goalpost. In Round 2, Mika Zibanejad tried to go high glove. But Sorokin shrugged it aside. Brock Nelson was foiled by Shesterkin down low.

That left it up to Vincent Trocheck. The new Steven McDonald winner went far side on Sorokin to clinch the victory on home ice. It was a welcome sight following a pair of losses, including a bad one to the Flyers on Thursday.

Unlike that one, the Rangers competed much harder. Coach Peter Laviolette made some lineup changes. Rookie Matt Rempe was in for Jonny Brodzinski. He took his place on the fourth line with Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey.

The biggest move was splitting up the defensive pair of K’Andre Miller and Jacob Trouba. They’d struggled mightily since Trouba returned on Mar. 28. In fact, they were on for only one goal for and a mind-numbing nine goals against. On Saturday, Miller played with Braden Schneider. Trouba worked with Erik Gustafsson.

It had to happen. With one game left on the schedule with the Senators visiting MSG on Monday, we’ll see how things develop. Zac Jones deserves to play that game to make his case. We’ll see what Laviolette decides.

By winning, the Rangers remained a point up on the Stars for the President’s Trophy. Dallas won their game over Seattle later in the day. Depending on what happens between now and Monday, that’ll determine what happens. The Hurricanes are still in play for the Metropolitan Division. If they win at Chicago tomorrow, that’ll force the Rangers to earn it with another win against Ottawa. Carolina wraps up at Columbus on Tuesday.

The Bruins are playing the Penguins. They can still earn the top seed by running the table and getting help from the Senators. They don’t have as many regulation wins as the Rangers or Hurricanes. So. They have to beat out both on points.

At least for one day, the Blueshirts can be happy with a franchise record 28th comeback win of the season. That resiliency is a big reason for why they sit atop the standings. It’s the character they possess that’s made them successful.

Unlike the no-show the other day, they started better against their biggest rival. In fact, they got the game’s first five shots on Sorokin before the Isles settled in.

In particular, Zibanejad had some good jump early. He was much more noticeable during his line’s five-on-five shifts. He was effective throughout the game. There was even a Jack Roslovic sighting with the former Blue Jacket getting a shot right on Sorokin.

Eventually, the Islanders got their legs moving. Following a good shift by the Nelson line, Bo Horvat got a step on Ryan Lindgren to get off a backhand that Shesterkin stopped. They continued to turn it around. Shesterkin made stops on Palmieri and Casey Cizikas, who had a couple of glorious chances.

After the Isles’ onslaught, Mike Reilly went off for holding Alex Wennberg. The vaunted Rangers top unit did everything but score on their first power play. They had the puck for the entirety. Crisp passing led to some great opportunities. Zibanejad was all set up in the left circle but wasn’t able to elevate a hard Trocheck pass.

The Islanders survived thanks to some shot blocks and a few saves from Sorokin. Late in the period, they’d get a couple of power plays.

After easily killing off a Goodrow holding minor, the Rangers were shorthanded once more due to Kaapo Kakko high-sticking and drawing blood on Robert Bortuzzo. The double minor carried over.

In the second period, Lindgren boarded Barzal to give the Islanders an abbreviated 5-on-3. When it expired, a Nelson giveaway led to Schneider scoring a shorthanded goal to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 4:33.

Chris Kreider moved the puck to Zibanejad, who found Schneider open for a shot in the slot. After Sorokin made one stop, Schneider followed up his own rebound for his fifth goal of the season.

On the next shift, the Islanders thought they tied the score. Hudson Fasching looked like he had the tying goal. However, Laviolette successfully challenged offside. On the replay, Palmieri was just ahead of the play. It was close. He was pushed by Goodrow. That was enough to overturn the goal.

Despite losing out on the goal, the same Islanders line would get one a bit later. Some hustle from Fasching led to Palmieri getting the puck down low for Nelson, who batted his own rebound off a diving Shesterkin and in for his 31st goal. That tied the score with 8:18 remaining.

With the game tied, Rempe finished a check on Bortuzzo to some cheers from the crowd who chanted his name. When he was out for shifts, Rempe had some good battles with Alexander Romanov. They definitely gave it their all. That mostly came when Rempe was behind the Islanders’ net.

In the final minute of the period, the Islanders went ahead. On another strong shift from the Nelson line, Fasching escaped a Schneider check to spin around and center a backhand pass across that Nelson finished to make it 2-1 with less than 28 seconds left.

On the replay, it looked like Palmieri held Miller’s stick. Whether intentional or not, he got away with it. Similar to Goodrow when he shoved Palmieri offside.

The Rangers trailed by one entering the third period. They’ve been a good comeback team in the third. That proved true.

In the first part of the third, they got some shots on Sorokin, who handled them without a problem. He didn’t face much traffic. An area the Rangers will need to do better when the playoffs start next weekend.

Another Lindgren penalty put them shorthanded. It didn’t matter due to the Isles’ power play being so bad. They had no shots.

When play returned to even strength, though, the Islanders created some chances. Shesterkin was sharp. He stopped Barzal and Palmieri. His biggest save of the game came when Panarin was forced to hook Pelech from behind to deny a breakaway. He was awarded a penalty shot.

So. It was the Islanders’ defensive defenseman versus Shesterkin. Pelech moved in methodically before taking his shot that Shesterkin made the crucial stop on with 6:56 remaining.

After a Sorokin save on Roslovic, the Islanders iced the puck. Trocheck came out to take the offensive draw. The Isles again iced the puck. Then, Trocheck beat Horvat on the second faceoff back for a Panarin wrist shot that was in the back of the net quickly. Just like that, the game was tied.

With one game left, Panarin needs two goals to become just the fifth Rangers player to score 50 in a season. The 50-goal club consists of Vic Hadfield (50), Adam Graves (52), Jaromir Jagr (54), and Kreider (52).

In overtime, Panarin had a bad giveaway in the neutral zone with time winding down. Barzal made a strong move to get off a good wrist shot in the left circle that Shesterkin reached back with his glove and snapped up.

That clutch stop led to Panarin and Trocheck sealing the deal in the shootout. It was a very good game between the rivals. The Rangers took the season series 3-1. Unless they cough up first place, they likely won’t see the Islanders in the first round.

The rivalry games between these teams remain pinnacle. Imagine if they played each other six times. Ask the schedule makers to explain that one.