Recap: Bruins double up on Islanders, 6-3

The Boston Bruins defeated the New York Islanders, 6-3, this afternoon at the TD Garden, in a collectively strong showing throughout the lineup.

The B’s are now on a four-game win streak. Today’s win was their first against the Islanders this season. The game completed their season-series with the Bruins going 1-2-0 against them.

Six different forwards netted goals, and ten players registered at least one point. Brad Marchand and Taylor Hall each ended the night with three points.

The Bruins led 2-1 after the first period, on a Craig Smith tally and Taylor Hall’s power-play goal - ironically their first on the man-advantage since his last on March 18. But Brock Nelson made it a one-goal game with 12 seconds left in the period.

The flood gates opened, however, in the second period as David Pastrnak and Marchand cushioned the B’s hold on the game early on.

Despite the Islanders bouncing back on the power play minutes later, the Bruins continued their offensive dominance. Erik Haula added his own tally on a clean passing sequence from his linemates. Jake DeBrusk retrieved a bouncing puck off the end boards to sneak one past Semyon Varlamov’s shoulder.

The third period slowed down, and as the Bruins’ held a strong grip, Bruce Cassidy was able to test out different defensive pairings like Hampus Lindholm with Brandon Carlo.

The Islanders added one on the power play from Zach Parise, but it didn’t matter at that point.

The Bruins ended the night outshooting the Isles, 44-27.

Here are the highlights!

First period:

The Bruins opened the scoring at 4:03 of the first period.

Charlie Coyle knocked Adam Pelech off the puck to win a race to the corner boards. He sent a pass to Carlo skating into the slot for a one-timer. Carlo’s rebound bounced off the end boards and found Smith’s stick along the paint for a quick shot past Varlamov’s glove. 1-0 Bruins.

The Bruins took a two-goal lead at 19:26 of the first period with a power-play goal.

Just six seconds into the advantage and off a face-off win, Charlie McAvoy sent a pass to Hall where he tipped the puck past Varlamov’s glove. 2-0 Bruins.

The Islanders got on the board at 19:48 of the first period.

Nelson picked up the rebound from Zdeno Chara’s shot to put a backhander past Linus Ullmark. 2-1 game.

Second period:

The Bruins regained their two-goal lead at 2:13 of the second period.

Hall dug the puck out of the corner to get it to Haula for a quick shot on net. Pastrnak, heading to the net, found the rebound at the top of the paint and put one low past Varlamov glove-side. 3-1 Bruins.

The Bruins cushioned their lead at 3:56 of the second period.

At the outside hashmarks, Patrice Bergeron threw a pass towards net that Marchand picked up. In the slot, Marchand let a wrist shot fly over Varlamov’s blocker. 4-1 Bruins.

The Islanders bounced back with a power-play goal at 5:12 of the second period.

In the slot, Anders Lee found Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s rebound and put a quick shot past Ullmark’s stick. 4-2 game.

The Bruins extended their lead at 14:33 of the second period.

Started from a giveaway at center ice, Hall skated into the offensive zone on a 4-on-2 to send a pass over to Pastrnak. He hit Haula with a feed inside the left-wing circle to beat Varlamov’s blocker. 5-2 Bruins.

The Bruins padded their lead even more at 18:18 of the second period.

DeBrusk collected the bouncing puck off the end boards to sneak a high shot over Varlamov’s left shoulder. 6-2 Bruins.

Third period:

The Islanders added their second power-play goal of the game at 14:43 of the third period.

Anthony Beauvillier glided the puck over to Zach Parise at the far post where he slid in a low shot past Ullmark. 6-3 game.

Final score: 6-3 Bruins.

Game notes:

• After a slow few opening shifts, the Bruins got to work in the first period and then controlled the flow there on out. The Bruins’ third led the B’s offensive through the first frame by crashing the net and winning puck battles. That line continued to create chances by driving to net and finding shooting lanes.
• The power play actually produced a goal today! The Bruins’ first power play of the game generated some good chances in the slot with Bergeron back in the mix. Even though those two minutes didn’t produced a goal, it build momentum for the power play that followed minutes later - and that time they did score (six seconds in too!)
• The Bruins saw contributions from three lines, but all forwards played the game to their strengths. The top line was effective in the slot. The second line was strong with neutral zone transitions and rushes. They carried the play to the net and had a sound passing game.
• Everyone should be Team Haula after this game. Haula has proved himself to be a viable 2C despite those who said the Bruins didn’t do enough at the trade deadline. Just look at the offense he’s created today and over the last few games. He’s clicking with Pastrnak, who’s also just on a crazy tear right now.
• Coyle, Smith and Trent Frederic have arguably been the most consistent line in this stretch and this afternoon was no exception. They generated scoring chances with their speed and foot races won, like Coyle beating Pelech to set up that first goal and the three followed up on rebound opportunities.
• The fourth line, although they didn’t get on the board, ate up some valuable offensive-zone time. They also played the physical game. The penalty Nick Foligno drew led to the Bruins’ second goal.
• The defense also had a sound game in all three zones. Lindholm continued to show the difference he can make in these stretch of games and heading to the playoffs. He’s been effective on the offensive blue line. In the third period in particular, Lindholm and McAvoy kept pressure as the game was already in hand. In fact, the defense as a whole was effective in that spot today and generated good puck movement to keep plays alive in the zone.
• This was Bergeron’s 1,200 career game. The captain ended the afternoon with one assist and four shots on net in his return to play after missing the last four games to an elbow infection. Postgame, Bergeron said, “It’s a long road, but it went fast.” Bruce Cassidy said he hopes to see Bergeron playing for the B’s when he hits 1,300 games.

The Bruins are back in action on Tuesday March 29 at 7 pm when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs.