Recap: Coyle’s hat trick propels Bruins to 5-2 win over Islanders

The Boston Bruins topped the New York Islanders as Charlie Coyle’s hat trick and a strong power-play night led the team to a 5-2 win at the TD Garden.

There are a lot of highlights so here we go!

First period:

The Bruins opened the scoring at 14:05 of the first period.

Charlie Coyle got the puck loose along the boards to find James van Riemsdyk at the end boards. He then found Frederic in the slot where he put a wrist shot past Ilya Sorokin. 1-0 Bruins.

The Islanders tied the game at 17:23 of the first period on the power play.

Brock Nelson bats down Noah Dobson’s shot from the point to beat Linus Ullmark. 1-1 tie game.

Second period:

The Bruins took the lead at 6:06 of the second period on the power play.

Tic-tac-toe passing led by Pastrnak to Pavel Zacha eventually found Coyle in the slot for a quick shot past Sorokin. 2-1 Bruins.

Third period:

The Islanders evened the game again at 2:50 of the second period with a shorthanded goal.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Simon Holmstrom found themselves on a 2-on-1 heading into the offensive zone. Pageau dished a pass over to Holmstrom where he lifted a shot over Ullmark’s glove. 2-2 game.

The Bruins regained the lead at 3:33 of the third period with another power-play goal.

Shattenkirk passed to Pastrnak inside the left-wing circle where he circled the top of it before letting a wrist shot off past Sorokin. 3-2 Bruins.

The Bruins cushioned their lead at 9:26 of the third period on Coyle’s second goal of the night.

James van Riemsdyk saw Coyle driving to the net. He sent him a pass as he skated towards the back door where Coyle put a quick wrist shot low past Sorokin. 4-2 Bruins.

Coyle solidified the Bruins win with an empty-net goal at 18:39 of the third period which earned him his first career hat trick. Final score: 5-2 Bruins.

Game notes:

• The Bruins offense really took off tonight. Jim Montgomery said it was one of the more consistent games from them upfront and saw the speed of the game and plays pick up.
• Coyle registered his first career hat trick in the win and ended the night with four points. Jim Montgomery felt it was Coyle’s most complete game this season. Coyle has had a really great start to the year, having accumulated eight points prior to the game. He now has the third most points on the team with 12.
• His line also had an impactful game contributing two 5v5 goals. Frederic led things off with the opening goal. The chemistry was clicking between Coyle, Frederic and van Riemsdyk with so many scoring chances started by van Riemsdyk. JVR really moved the puck around and looked for the open guy. He just keeps becoming more and more of an asset to the Bruins’ forwards.
• SCOC talked with Coyle after the game and asked him about Pastrnak’s unselfish pass to get him his first career hat trick. Coyle had this to say: “Pasta is a goal scorer. He’s good at it. But for a guy like that, he likes to shoot the puck. But for him to say that and do that and want to do that, you can tell guys want to reward guys who are close to a hat trick or a special point. You want to do it the right way. You never want to force it, but that’s the kind of guy he is and our team is as well. You give it and it will come back to you too. It goes around. It’s just the unselfishness of our team and how guys are and treat each other here.”
• The power play also showed up against the Islanders, including Pastrnak’s go-ahead goal. Pastrnak told reporters postgame about taking different types of shots like the one that snuck past Sorokin and how he’s not getting as many one-timers at the moment.
• Brad Marchand’s exceptional play tonight can’t go unnoticed as well. The captain had two assists and drove offensive plays. He was a huge factor in Coyle’s hat trick goal and a force to keep offensive zone possession on 5v5 and the man advantage.
• The Bruins will hit the road for a game against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, Nov. 11 with a 7 p.m. puck drop.