Bruins Scoring Drought Continues, Lose to Islanders

BOSTON - Almost as soon as the game started, disaster struck.

Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask collided along the side of the net and Anders Lee stuffed the puck into the empty net. The fluke goal left the crowd stunned and immediately zapped the team's energy.

Halfway through the first period, Thomas Hickey beat Rask short-side on a three-on-one attempt.

In the second period, a dump from the neutral zone bounced towards the crease, where Nikolay Kulemin touched it past Rask to increase the Islanders lead to 3-0. Rask was pulled after allowing three goals, two of which were flukes, on 13 shots.

The Bruins struggled to challenge Greiss until the third period, despite totaling 50 shots on goal and 95 shot attempts. In the third period, the Bruins pushed the pace and scored two goals, which ignited the crowd. The effort in the final frame was greatly improved, partially due to the team's renewed sense of urgency.

Coach Claude Julien was displeased with the effort, noting, "What you saw in the third period, I don't know why we don't bring that in the first. We wait until we're in a hole and the desperate."

When discussing the team's third period performance, Patrice Bergeron echoed his coach's statements, saying, "It's too late to start playing the way we should be playing."

To recap: for the billionth time this season, the Bruins outshot their opponents, yet struggled to score. A couple of quirky Islanders' goals ended up sinking the Black and Gold and the Bruins continue to struggle on home ice.

On a positive note, Anton Blidh scored his first career NHL goal! Congratulations to the young Swede.