BOSTON — The Islanders scored one win over a prime group within the NHL on Friday. They couldn’t rating one other this time round.
They will consolation themselves because of an additional time level, however the Islanders will head out west with the momentum from Friday night time’s win over the Devils having evaporated right into a two-game dropping streak after the Bruins defeated them 4-3 on Tuesday night time at TD Backyard following a shootout. David Pastrnak notched the winner for Boston, with Josh Bailey’s last try lacking the web excessive for the Islanders.
“It felt like a playoff recreation,” Mathew Barzal mentioned. “That’s actually it. It’s an enormous level to get.”
The Islanders (17-12-1) weren’t overwhelmed by Boston’s velocity, and had the higher of the sport at five-on-five, however their energy play was their undoing. Not solely did they fail to generate a lot offense at five-on-four, however they gave up a go-ahead shorthanded objective on Derek Forbort’s wrist shot at 18:28 of the second. That put the Bruins up 3-2 and helped flip the tide of a recreation that hung in an almost even steadiness for a lot of the night time.
Casey Cizikas tied the sport at three for the Islanders with a wraparound try that went off Forbort’s skate and in at 4:40 of the third. They couldn’t parlay that momentum right into a win, however they did exit feeling good about incomes a degree in a constructing the place no opposing group has crushed the Bruins in regulation this season.
“That’s a giant level for us,” Noah Dobson mentioned. “It’s a great constructing block for this highway journey.”
The Bruins opened the scoring with a 19-second flurry within the first interval, each targets courtesy of Jake DeBrusk. First, on the ability play after Zach Parise was known as for goaltender interference, DeBrusk deflected Pastrnak’s shot previous Semyon Varlamov at 6:48. Then, at 7:07, he streaked up the ice off the frenzy to attain a second time, prompting Islanders coach Lane Lambert to make use of his timeout.
“It was a bit bit calming,” Lambert mentioned. “I assumed we have been enjoying nicely to that time. That was the message, simply hold going. There’s lots of hockey left.”
The message hit dwelling, because the Islanders quickly obtained their footing underneath them. Bailey reduce the deficit in half, deflecting Dobson’s shot into the web to make it 2-1 at 11:00 of the primary. Dobson tied the sport at two with a missile of a one-timer from the purpose on the 11:43 mark of the second.
When A.J. Greer was known as for roughing at 16:39 of the second, all of the momentum appeared to be with the Islanders. However lower than two minutes later, that had slipped away within the wake of Forbort’s objective.
The Islanders are nonetheless lacking two key gamers from their prime 9 in Kyle Palmieri and Anthony Beauvillier, and on Tuesday, Cal Clutterbuck skated with the second line to accommodate Hudson Fasching on the fourth. That, mixed with this a part of the schedule being considerably grueling, makes treading water an appropriate end result, and it’s robust to knock the Islanders once they earned a degree after taking place 2-0 in opposition to the Bruins.
“I assumed we have been centered,” Lambert mentioned. “I assumed we did what we needed to do and we performed quick. We proceed to try this, we’ll have success most of the time.”
That 19-second stretch within the first interval stands as a key second of lapsed focus which may have turned the sport. So does the shorthanded objective. And the Isles want each level they will get because the Rangers and Penguins rebound from sluggish begins and get again into the playoff chase.
They obtained one on Tuesday. However one other certain would have been good.
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