As the area dug out of a major blizzard that struck New York on Sunday, the Rangers handed the Islanders their first loss in four games and ended their rivals' five-game point streak (4-0-1).
Gilroy gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead just 44 seconds in and then broke a 2-2 tie in the second period against Islanders goalie Dwayne Roloson. Gilroy, replacing scratched defenseman Michael Del Zotto, had gone 64 games without a goal - dating to Nov. 28, 2009. He has six goals in 91 career NHL games.
In Sunrise, Florida, Blake Wheeler scored the only goal in the shootout to lead Boston over Florida.
Tim Thomas, who came in leading the NHL in goals-against average and save percentage, made 32 saves. He then stopped Mike Santorelli, Stephen Weiss and Evgeny Dadonov in the shootout.
David Krejci scored both regulation goals for Boston.
Michael Ryder had two assists.
David Booth and Mike Santorelli scored for the Panthers and Michael Frolik had two assists.
In Columbus, Ohio, Rick Nash scored in the shootout and had two assists to lift the Blue Jackets past Minnesota.
Steve Mason, who hadn't started since Dec. 16 , returned to the net and stopped 37 shots.
Derick Brassard, Fedor Tyutin and Andrew Murray also scored for Columbus, which scored twice in 41 seconds to take the lead in the third period. Kyle Wilson and Kristian Huselius also scored in the shootout.
Nash now has 206 assists to lead the Columbus franchise.
He is also the club leader in goals (244) and points (450).
Chuck Kobasew had a goal and assist, and Mikko Koivu and Cal Clutterbuck also scored for Minnesota, which has lost two in a row after a three-game winning streak.
In Calgary, Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen scored second-period goals to lead Calgary over Buffalo.
Trailing 2-1 in the second period Jokinen's eighth goal of the season to leveled the scores, before Alex Kotalik, David Moss and Tom Kostopolous saw the Flames home.
Drew Stafford and Patrick Kaleta scored for Buffalo.
In Denver, Niklas Kronwall scored the game-winner with 1:18 remaining in overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings' a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
Denver goaltender Chris Osgood became the 10th goalie in NHL history to reach 400 wins and was swarmed by teammates after reaching the milestone win. The 17-year veteran has 316 of his wins with the Red Wings.
Nicklas Lidstrom, Jiri Hudler and Johan Franzen also scored for the Red Wings, who have won three of their past four games.
Matt Duchene scored twice for Colorado and T.J. Galiardi added another.
In San Jose, California, Trevor Lewis broke the deadlock early in the third period and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves for his fourth shutout this season, leading Los Angeles over San Jose.
Dustin Brown scored twice and former San Jose forward Marco Sturm also scored in the third as the Kings broke open the game to end a three-game losing streak to San Jose.
The Sharks looked sluggish in their first game following a three-day Christmas break, taking more than 12 minutes to put a single shot on target before the Kings scoring blitz saw an end to their four-game winning streak.
