The New York Islanders scored four power play goals including a pair from Ruslan Fedotenko to down the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 at the Air Canada Center Thursday night. The win gave the Isles points in three straight games and moved them to within four points of eighth place in the Eastern Conference. For the Leafs, the loss was their second one-goal defeat in as many nights and dropped them to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with less than two weeks to go before the trade deadline.

The Islanders have bounced back from their recent seven-game losing streak and are 2-0-1 in their last three contests. The team appears to be regaining its confidence heading into the stretch drive.

"There's still belief in this room," center Mike Comrie said. "Ted (Nolan) and the coaching staff have us focused on the game at hand. We're not looking too far ahead."

Bryan Berard scored the only goal of the first period when the puck deflected off his skate and behind Leafs' goalie Vesa Toskala. Berard finished the game with a goal and two assists for the Islanders who were playing without defensemen Brandon Witt and Bruno Gervais. Chris Campoli has already been lost for the season, leaving the Isles without three of their top six defensemen. Players like Berard, Aaron Johnson and Freddy Meyer stepped up to provide the Islanders with steady defense.

After Darcy Tucker and Mats Sundin scored to give the Maple Leafs their only lead of the game midway through the second period, the New York power play took over. Fedotenko scored his first goal of the game on a nice play set up by Johnson. Comrie added a power play goal less than three minutes later to give the Islanders a lead they would never lose. Fedotenko's second tally of the night made it 4-2 Islanders at the 4:29 mark of the third period.

The Leafs got a goal from Matt Stajan to pull to within one when they were handed a 5-on-3 power play advantage for 1:08. With Berard already in the penalty box for high sticking, Radek Martinek shot the puck over the glass and was assessed an automatic delay of game penalty. The Islanders, led by Richard Park, were able to kill off the power play which seemed to take the momentum right back from Toronto.

With less than a minute left in the third period and New York still ahead 4-3, Freddy Meyer scored his first goal of the season to ice the game for the Islanders. The Leafs made things close when Alexei Ponikarovsky beat Rick DiPietro with 19 seconds left, but the Islanders held on for their second straight win.

Five Islanders had multi-point games including Fedotenko, Comrie, Berard, Josef Vasicek and Miro Satan. Fedotenko is perhaps the hottest Islander forward right now with four goals and one assist in his last four games.

"This is a big win for us," Fedotenko said. "Everyone is fighting for a playoff spot and we need these points."

Optimism seems to have returned to Long Island. "I think this past week, we've kind of turned a corner," Meyer said. "Everybody's working hard and we're scoring some good goals. We've just got to keep it going."

The Islanders are crashing the net a lot more frequently in recent games, something they had not been doing successfully during their recent losing streak. They are suddenly getting goals on rebounds and scrambles in and around the crease.

"We saw the improbable last year when we were left for dead," DiPietro said after the game. "There's still a lot of hockey left."

"We have to have a sense of urgency," Nolan added. "Our power play was huge. The last four or fives games, we're starting to play the way we're capable of playing. The last few games we've been competing, which is all we can control."

The Islanders return home Saturday to play the Atlanta Thrashers, one of the teams just ahead of them in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

NOTES: The Islanders expect Witt to be out between 2-4 weeks with a sprained MCL. Gervais (strained oblique) should be back within 5-10 days according to Ted Nolan...Aaron Johnson's assist was his first point of the season...Some proceeds from Saturday night's game against Atlanta will benefit The Stephen Siller Foundation. Siller, a New York City Firefighter, lost his life in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The money will help support the New York, Nassau, and Suffolk Firefighters Burn Center Foundations.