Recap: Bruins defeat Islanders, 4-3, in shootout

A three-point night from Jake DeBrusk fueled the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders tonight at the TD Garden.

DeBrusk netted two goals in a 19 second span in the first period and picked up a shorthanded assist on Derek Forbort’s goal.

Linus Ullmark made 23 saves in the win and the Bruins continued their home point streak which now is at 16 games.

Here are the highlights!

First period:

The Bruins opened the scoring at 6:48 of the first period on the power play.

David Pastrnak threw a wrist shot on net that DeBrusk got his stick on to tip the puck past Semyon Varlamov. 1-0 Bruins.

The Bruins extended their lead 19 seconds later at 7:07 with DeBrusk’s second goal of the night.

DeBrusk sent a centering pass towards Derek Forbort, but it bounced off Josh Bailey’s stick and past Varlamov. 2-0 Bruins.

The Islanders bounced back at 11:00 of the first period.

Noah Dobson threw a long shot on net from the right point that Bailey tipped in from the slot past Ullmark. 2-1 game.

Second period:

The Islanders tied the game at 11:43 of the second period.

Bailey hit Dobson with a pass at the blue line where he sent a slap shot through traffic from the blue line that traveled past Ullmark’s blocker. 2-2 game.

The Bruins regained the lead at 18:28 of the second period with a shorthanded goal.

DeBrusk left a drop pass from Pavel Zacha who found Forbort skating into the slot for a snip of a wrist shot top-shelf over Varlamov’s glove. 3-2 Bruins.

Third period:

The Islanders tied the game at 4:40 of the third period.

Casey Cizikas picked up the bouncing puck along the end boards from Sebastian Aho’s shot for a wrap-around that hit Forbort’s skate and went past Ullmark. 3-3 game.

Overtime:

The Islanders played a boring passing game to start the overtime. The Bruins had a few chances from DeBrusk, Brad Marchand and Pastrnak, but the game couldn’t be decided in extra minutes.

Shootout:

Mathew Barzal scored the lone goal in the shootout for the Islanders in the first round.

DeBrusk and Pastrnak both beat Varlamov in the next rounds and the Bruins extended their home point streak with a final score of a 4-3 win in a shootout.

Game notes:

• Although the Bruins were up 2-0 in a 19 second span in the middle of the first period — the frame was not in their favor. The Bruins were sluggish to start the game and the Islanders dominated the the first several minutes of the period. The score could have easily been 3-0 Isles in those opening minutes, but Ullmark made a handful of quick saves to keep the Bruins in the game.
• It seemed like it was going to be one of those nights where one lucky bounce was going to tilt the end result for either team. DeBrusk’s second goal and Cizikas’ tying tally were deflections off opposing players out front.
• DeBrusk’s two-goal game was his 13th of his career, as NESN reported. It was also his second multi-goal outing this year. In that previous game, he also registered three points.
• Derek Forbort may not score 20 goals this season, but he’s adjusted nicely into Head Coach Jim Montgomery’s offensive system with an active defense. It was fitting that he also netted a shorthanded tally, jumping in to finish off a great passing sequence from DeBrusk and Zacha to find space in the slot and pick a top corner to aim his shot.
• Montgomery said postgame the defense overall is doing a better job creating offensive plays and that’s what he’s looking for. If they ended up getting some production out of it, even better.
• Postgame sound bite: “Your core temperature elevates around 7:30 (p.m.), 8:30 p.m. and that’s when you’re at your best. I think that’s when we got our legs because we’re used to West Coast time.” - Montgomery on the slow start and adjusting after the road trip on a game this summer, he felt the team was set up to fail because of the schedule.
• Postgame sound bite: “I think it was a 3-on-3 so I wasn’t in too much hurry to get up. Zacha got the puck and he’s such a good passer I said, ‘screw it, might as well keep going’ and he found me and got it.” - Forbort on his go-ahead goal in the second period.
• Postgame sound bite: “We had every excuse in the book to lose this one and I give the Islanders credit. They played a hard game and pretty consistent throughout and found a way to battle back. I also give a lot of credit to Linus. He found a way to keep us in the game.” —DeBrusk on fatigue from travel but finding ways to win. DeBrusk also on his shootout goal: “I hit the post last time I tried so I went back to old faithful and thankfully it went in.”
• The Bruins homestand continues on Thursday, Dec. 15 as the LA Kings come to town for a 7 p.m. puck drop.