Recap: Bruins clinch No. 3 seed with 3-2 OT win over Islanders

The Boston Bruins clinched the No. 3 seed in the East division with their 3-2 overtime win over the New York Islanders tonight at the TD Garden.

David Krejci assisted on all Bruins’ tallies, picking up the primary assists and ending the game with a three-point night. Taylor Hall and Brad Marchand each registered two points. Hall opened the scoring and capped off his night with the game-winner in OT.

Tuukka Rask made 16 saves in the win.

The Bruins ended their season series against the Islanders at 3-3-2.

“It never got away from us,” Bruce Cassidy said about the game.

“I thought we were good in all areas,” Cassidy said. “We played a sound game, a solid game.”

There was a lot of back-and-forth play through the first several minutes of play in the first period. Each side had equal chances and rushes.

Then about midway through, Krejci’s line had a shift that changed the momentum of the first. Krejci, Hall and Craig Smith controlled the puck in the offensive zone, setting up chances and trying to redirect pucks in the slot.

Hall drew a penalty and the game further tilted in the Bruins’ favor following it. From there on out, it was a Bruins’ offensively-dominated period. When the Islanders did make it down the other end, the B’s crowded shooting lanes and blocked shots.

Hall drew his second penalty of the period and then shortly after, David Pastrnak drew a four-minute penalty. Leo Komarov first slashed Pastrnak and then after the call, butt-ended him in the chest with his stick.

The Bruins opened the scoring at 19:21 of the first period with a power-play goal.

On a 5-on-3 power play, Brad Marchand found Krejci along the goal line where he then fed the puck to Hall positioned low for a one-timer low past Semyon Varlamov. 1-0 Bruins.

The Bruins outshot the Islanders 18-4 during the first frame.

The Islanders tied the game at 1:38 of the second period on a 4-on-3 power play.

Mathew Barzal circled high and skated down into the right face-off circle with the puck before finding Oliver Wahlstrom open at the top of the left circle for a one-timer that went over Rask’s blocker. 1-1 game.

The Bruins took the lead at 6:15 of the second period.

Inside the right circle, Krejci found Marchand at the top of the paint where he got his stick on the feed and slid the puck low past Varlamov’s right skate. 2-1 Bruins.

The Islanders evened the score at 8:15 of the second period.

Ryan Pulock hit Barzal with a pass inside the left circle where he then turned towards net and let a wrist shot fly top-shelf over Rask’s blocker. 2-2 game.

The Islanders put pressure on Rask throughout the period, as the Bruins broke down their defensive zone coverage in the middle frame. The Islanders capitalized on giveaways in the neutral zone and played stronger along theor offensive-zone boards. The Isles kept on the forecheck and kept puck possession in their favor to get chances on Rask.

The Bruins announced Ondrej Kase would not return for the third period, exiting the game with an upper-body injury. Ilya Sorokin also entered the game for the Islanders to start the period in net.

The third period had more urgency and physicality from the Bruins. Checks were finished and guys like Chris Wagner and Kevan Miller threw their weight around, delivering big hits at the appropriate times.

Defense also did a better job at clearing the front of the net and driving shots to the outside.

Despite a ramped up offensive from the B’s, the game needed to be decided in overtime. With the extra point earned though, the Bruins clinched the No. 3 seed in the East.

In overtime, Pastrnak set up Jake DeBrusk for the Bruins’ first chance in extra minutes.

Hall netted his second goal of the night to give the Bruins the win at 2:53 of overtime.

Krejci gave Hall a short pass in the neutral zone for him to explode into the offensive zone, drag the puck through the slot and on his backhand, put one past Sorokin’s blocker. Final score: 3-2 Bruins.

The Bruins outshot the Islanders 38-18. Krejci and Kevan Miller were the only two who did not register a shot in the game. But it didn’t matter for Krejci who helped set up all three goals.

The Bruins close out the regular season on the road tomorrow against the Washington Capitals at 7 pm.