NEWARK, N.J. -- The New York Islanders did their part to remain alive in the battle for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference Saturday night, skating to a 4-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center.

However, the Islanders (40-29-12) did not get the help they needed and, as a result, their season ends Sunday with a meaningless home game against the Ottawa Senators.

Roughly an hour after New York's fifth consecutive win, the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied for a 5-3 victory at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins, mathematically eliminating the Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning after 81 games.

"We believed it could happen," said Islanders forward Anders Lee, who scored two goals on Saturday. "We know what kind of team we have. I don't think there's a guy in this room that doesn't believe we are a playoff team."

The Islanders put themselves in a precarious situation by winning just three of 10 games between March 11 and 30. However, they revived their playoff hopes by winning their last five games as goaltender Jaroslav Halak did everything in his power to carry the team over the finish line, surrendering just six goals in the five contests.

"He's been so solid," Lee said of Halak, who won six of seven starts since recalled from the minor leagues in late March.

Halak turned in another brilliant performance with the season on the line Saturday, finishing with 37 saves

"I just try and focus game by game, and I'm not looking at the big picture," said Halak. "We all know we need to win, and we won tonight. That's all you can do."

Playing their final home game of the season, the last-place Devils (28-39-14) put forth a spirited effort, recording seven shots on goal in the game's first four minutes and outshooting New York 14-4 in the scoreless first period.

"We had a lot of chances, did a lot of good things," said Devils captain Andy Greene. "We just couldn't find a way; and, obviously, (Halak's) a really good goalie."

Halak made stunning saves in the first on Miles Wood, Jacob Josefson, and Taylor Hall, before stoning Hall again on a breakaway with 1:20 left in the period.

"Obviously, they had a good push in the first period, and it could have been a different story if Jaro did not play that well," said Jason Chimera, who scored a third-period goal for the Islanders.

The Islanders rewarded their goaltender's outstanding effort by scoring a pair of goals less than four minutes apart early in the second period to jump out to a 2-0 lead.

Adam Pelech potted his third at 2:24 and Lee scored on a deflection with his back to the net, at 6:23 against Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid.

"We had a great first period and some chances in the second, but it seems like we are always fighting back from two goals down," said New Jersey's Travis Zajac.

Chimera made it 3-0 Islanders, scoring off a 2-on-1 with Alan Quine 3:52 into the third period.

Halak lost his shutout bid less than two minutes later when he accidentally kicked a loose puck into his own cage at the five-minute mark of the third, the goal credited to Beau Bennett.

New York responded quickly on Lee's second goal of the game, and team-leading 33rd of the season, on the power play at 8:11 to make it 4-1.

Bennett's second of the night, and eighth of the season, a deflection with three seconds remaining in regulation, closed out the scoring.

"Destiny is out of our hands," Islanders coach Doug Weight said after the win, and before the result in Toronto sealed his team's fate.

NOTES: Patrik Elias, the Devils all-time leading scorer and two-time Stanley Cup champion, took pre-game warmups and the ceremonial opening face-off with former teammate Stephen Gionta of the Islanders. Elias announced his retirement last week after not playing a single game this season due to injury. ... The Devils scratched RW Devante Smith-Pelly (lower body), LW Joseph Blandisi, and LW Ben Thomson. ... The Islanders scratched C John Tavares (lower body), C Casey Cizikas (upper body), RW Ryan Strome (upper body), LW Shane Prince (lower body), D Travis Hamonic (upper body), and C Connor Jones.