Recap: Bruins take series lead with a 2-1 OT win in Game 3

The Boston Bruins settled Game 3 of the second round in overtime, beating the New York Islanders 2-1 at Nassau Coliseum tonight. Tuukka Rask made 28 saves in the win.

The Bruins now lead the series 2-1.

It was the second consecutive game in this series that needed to be determined in overtime, and fifth this postseason for the Bruins.

They’re now 3-2 in OT through two rounds.

Brad Marchand ended the game at 3:36 of overtime with a hard-angled shot to close out a night where Semyon Varlamov had been standing on his head against the Bruins.

“It went in the net,” Bruce Cassidy said. “We won the game. You don’t ask how.”

“Doesn’t matter where it comes from as long as it finds its way to the back of the net,” Cassidy said.

Marchand’s overtime heroics marked his second OT goal this postseason.

Prior to the thrilling ending, it was a close, tightly played game.

The Bruins opened the scoring at 5:52 of the first period.

Taylor Hall picked the puck off Mathew Barzal with a backcheck in the neutral zone, and passed to Matt Grzelcyk, who carried it through center ice.

Upon offensive-zone entry, Grzelcyk found Hall along the right boards, where he centered a pass to Craig Smith in the slot; Smith went top-shelf over Varlamov’s glove. 1-0 Bruins.

In the first, the Bruins had better puck movement along the boards to keep plays alive in the offensive zone.

In the defensive zone, it was a completely different team thatn the one we saw on Monday night.

The Bruins picked up bodies and were faster to the puck behind the net to get it out of the zone. Charlie McAvoy had a strong period with nice stick work and checking that broke up Islander chances in the shooting lanes.

The Islanders did have another breakaway (flashbacks to Game 2’s ending) in the first, as Josh Bailey found a hole in the B’s defense at the blue line and hit Anthony Beauvillier with a pass up ice; Rask made the save.

The Bruins found themselves on the penalty kill once during the first period, but the PK looked solid.

McAvoy and Sean Kuraly blocked shots and the rest of the special teams unit worked well to keep the slot crowded and prevent the Isles from shooting down the middle. Shots were forced wide and the Bruins held off the Islanders getting any shots on Tuukka Rask for its duration.

The Islanders outshot the Bruins 7-5 during the first period.

The second period was defensive-driven and neither side would score during the middle frame.

The name of the game in the second was “blocked shots,” as there were 11 in total: five by the Isles and six by the Bruins.

The Bruins picked up bodies in front and deterred shots. The Islanders again went to the slot, but guys like Charlie Coyle and Brandon Carlo made big plays by backchecking and forcing plays to the outside.

Goaltending kept it a 1-0 game. Rask tracked shots and picked up second efforts for the Bruins, while. for the Islanders, Varlamov made 13 quality saves. He denied the B’s top lines throughout the period and was the difference maker for his team.

The Bruins outshot the Islanders 13-8 in the second period.

The B’s outshot the Islanders 21-9 in the third, but Varlamov continued his outstanding play and the Bruins couldn’t get anything past him.

After taking two penalties in the first 40 minutes, the Bruins finally had two power plays of their own.

While the power play looked decent (on the first man-advantage, the Bruins had an impressive five shots on net), they couldn’t beat Varlamov.

Cassidy had to juggle five defensemen during the frame, as Carlo left the game after sustaining a hit from Cal Clutterbuck.

The Islanders evened the game late at 14:34 of the third period.

Kyle Palmieri bounced the puck off the end boards where Mat Barzal picked it up and on his third effort, he stuffed it between Rask’s right skate and the post. 1-1 tie game.

After the Barzal goal, it didn’t look like the Bruins were going to get past regulation.

Beauvillier had ANOTHER breakaway that was shut down by Rask and with the fourth line out in the final minutes, Kuraly took a penalty to leave the team shorthanded for the final two minutes.

But the Bruins killed the penalty off and ate the final seconds to slow the game down and force it to overtime.

The Islanders were pressing to start overtime and had some close calls to end the game.

Connor Clifton got his stick on a pass to a wide-open Brock Nelson at the doorstep, but Rask held his ground.

Rask stopped five shots by the Islanders in OT and was the one who made the sequence of saves that eventually allowed the Bruins to come down the other end and score.

The Bruins beat the Islanders with the game-winning goal at 3:36 of overtime.

McAvoy gained the blue line off the rush and got the puck to Marchand, who skated down the left boards and put a hard-angled shot over Varlamov’s glove shoulder. Final score: 2-1 Bruins in OT.

The Bruins outshot the Islanders 41-29 on the night.

Game 4 between the Bruins and Islanders is Saturday at 7:15 PM at Nassau Coliseum.