Bruins drop shootout to Islanders

For the first time in four games at Nassau Coliseum this year, the Bruins got something out of their trip to Long Island — just not everything they wanted.

After the two teams traded power-play goals in regulation, the New York Islanders prevailed in a shootout to take a 2-1 victory Tuesday night.

Anthony Beauvillier and Jordan Eberle scored in the shootout while only David Pastrnak could get one by Semyon Varlamov. Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand were thwarted by Varlamov.

The Bruins survived a turnover-filled third period in which they were outshot 9-4 to get a point out of the game.

Then in the overtime, each team had great chances, with Marchand pinging the post midway through the extra session but the B’s could not close the deal.

The B’s came into the game with an 0-3 record against the Islanders and the first handful of shifts of the game were trending the way of their last visit to Long Island, when the Isles scored five unanswered third-period goals. To start the first period on Tuesday, the Islanders continually forced turnovers at the Boston blue line and counterattacked.

On the first shift of the game, Jaroslav Halak had to make a very good save on a Casey Cizikas tip. The B’s then got fortunate when Andy Greene sprung Anders Lee for a two-on-one with Eberle. Lee’s pass to Eberle was hard to handle and Eberle wound up missing the open net.

But the B’s started to push back midway through the period. The heavy Coyle line spent a shift inside the New York zone, the ice began to tilt the other way and the B’s got some chances. Jack Studnicka set up Nick Ritchie nicely but Ritchie hit the post.

Late in the period, the B’s got the first power play of the game when Lee tripped Coyle coming out of the Boston zone with 1:11 left in the period and they cashed in on it.

Stuck in a six-game scoring drought on the power-play (0-for-12), the B’s won several puck races on the advantage to keep the play alive and Pastrnak scored his 11th of the season.

With Varlamov playing out of his crease, Matt Grzelcyk tried to hit Marchand with a backdoor pass for a one-timer. The feed was off the mark, but Marchand quickly recovered the puck and passed it up to Pastrnak near the right point. With Varlamov scrambling to get back in the cage, Pastrnak simply put the puck on net and beat the unsettled goaltender with 27.7 seconds left in the period.

After killing off a Coyle penalty early in the second period, the B’s got a gift of a power play when Oliver Wahlstrom was called for a highly questionable boarding penalty against Jarred Tinordi. On the ensuing PP, the B’s did just about everything but score. Varlamov’s best save came with the inside of his paddle on what looked like a sure David Krejci goal on a backhander.

But after the B’s could not create any distance between themselves and their hosts, the Islanders tied it up late in the second period on a power play of their own when Marchand got his dander up over a hit.

This time Wahlstrom earned his boarding penalty, delivering a heavy blow on Connor Clifton into the side boards. Immediately incensed, Marchand jumped Wahlstrom and delivered a couple of gloves-off blows. Both players went to their respective penalty boxes, but Marchand got the extra two.

At 16:18, Brock Nelson took a Jean-Gabriel Pageau feed in the slot and beat Halak to tie the game.

The B’s held a 24-16 shot advantage through two periods, but the Isles were right there with them on the scoreboard.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/38rTBaV