NHL

THIRD IS FINALLY FIRST RATE

The Islanders had given up nine goals in their last two third periods, so the one-goal lead they took into the final period last night against the Senators was anything but safe.

Freddy Meyer, however, helped make sure that it was.

The defenseman had his first multi-goal game in the NHL, including a slap shot 57 seconds into the third to give the Isles a two-goal cushion en route to their 4-2 win.

And even though the Senators closed to within 3-2, the Isles felt like they once again figured out how to play in the third, hopefully this time for good.

“We’ve been through this before,” Joey MacDonald said of the team’s many third-period woes. “Tonight was totally different. We were pressuring them in the third.”

Still, for stretches, it appeared that the Isles were skating shorthanded, even when they were at even-strength. They did enough, though, to keep the lead.

“This lessens the bad feeling we had after Pittsburgh and then having one of our worst games of the year in Boston,” Scott Gordon said.

They have Meyer to thank for that.

In the first period, the owner of 12 career NHL goals fired a slapper that Andy Hilbert deflected past Ottawa goalie Alex Auld to give the Isles an early lead.

Meyer followed that by crashing the net later in the period, taking a Jon Sim pass and scoring. He netted another in the third, blasting one past Auld.

The last multi-goal games Meyer could remember were a pair of hat tricks in the minors, in which he admittedly got lucky.

“I don’t think this is going to change my game,” said Meyer, who returned last week from sports hernia surgery.

But last night, it was just what the Isles needed.

*

Josh Bailey hasn’t scored a goal yet as an Islander, but the team has decided it has seen enough to keep him around for the rest of the year.

The Isles first pick in the most recent draft, Bailey played in his 10th game last night and now even if the Isles decide to send him to juniors, the year will count on his contract.

Through those 10 games, Bailey has notched five assists and has played much like the rest of the team: inconsistently.

But the 19-year-old has shown talent and the Isles figure he can learn more by playing and occasionally struggling in the NHL than going back to juniors.

“In a short time, Josh has met and exceeded all of our expectations of him both on and off the ice” GM Garth Snow said in a statement. “We look forward to watching him continue his development this season as an Islander.”

Snow traded down from the fifth spot, twice, before nabbing Bailey, who then missed the first 14 games of the season with an injury.

dan.martin@nypost.com

Islanders 4 Senators 2