The Bruins (13-6-4), their coaching staff not to mention the front office has to be completely fed up with their struggles against the Islanders (16-6-4) in 2021. Tonight in their final regular season meeting ever at the Nassau Coliseum, the Isles won 2-1 in a shootout for their sixth straight victory. New York improved to a perfect 4-0-0 vs. Boston during this campaign as they found another way to beat the Bruins following a one-goal game, a two-goal game, a blowout and now this. What are the chances that in their next encounter, the B's lose in overtime? These are also clubs that are going in opposite directions since the Isles have won six straight games and they are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games which has enabled them to take over first-place in the East Division. The B's are in a bit of a tailspin going 3-5-2 in their last 10 games dropping them to fourth-place in the East Division.
These matchups with New York are difficult enough to begin with but I feel like Boston's struggles vs. them have seeped into their collective heads as well. Make no mistake, the Islanders are a good team but the Bruins seem to become fragile mentally when they face New York. Case in point, this evening the B's were clinging to a 1-0 lead late in the second period when left wing Brad Marchand took matters into his own hands and went after Islanders rookie right wing Oliver Wahlstrom who had hit B's defenseman Connor Clifton from behind. Marchand's heart was in the right place-trying to defend a teammate-but it cost the Bruins dearly as the Isles tied it with a goal by center Brock Nelson on the ensuing power play. His 10th goal of the season came at 16:18 and it was assisted by center Jean-Gabriel Pageau and center Mathew Barzal. It was a textbook passing play that resulted in a one-timer that Bruins goaltender Jaroslav Halak (26 saves, 5-2-3) had no chance to stop.
Up until that tying goal for the Isles, Boston had done most everything right. They led 1-0 on David Pastrnak's power play goal at 19:32 of the first period. Pasta's team-leading 11th goal of the season (and his 400th career point in the NHL) was assisted by Marchand and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. It was a rare long range tally for Pastrnak who was near the blue line when he fired a low shot that seemed to take a slight deflection off an Islander skate. Scoring has been a major issue lately for Boston as they've notched one goal or less in three of their last four games, is that bad? Isles goaltender Semyon Varlamov (32 saves, 12-4-3) stopped everything else including a remarkable save on struggling Bruins center David Krejci (0 goals this season) who basically had an open net but couldn't find it as Varlamov made a brilliant diving stop on his rebound attempt.
These tilts with head coach Barry Trotz and the Islanders are always a grind and that showed again as Boston outshot New York 12-8 in each of the first two frames before the Isles took over late (9-4 in the 3rd period). The B's outshot the home team 5-2 in overtime but they couldn't end it there. They only needed a standard three-round shootout as New York scored twice (Jordan Eberle and Anthony Beauvillier) while Pasta had the lone goal for the Bruins. The good news is that the Black and Gold return home for a two-game set against the Rangers (10-11-3 overall, 5-5-1 on the road) starting on Thursday (7, NESN) and ending on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN). Boston is 3-1 against that New York club this season. Goalie Tuukka Rask didn't make the trip to Long Island (lucky him) since he looked like he tweaked something in his back in Sunday's ugly shutout loss vs. the Devils (8-11-3) so hopefully he'll return to the ice for the Bruins who could really use a win or two, something to feel good about during this slide.
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