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The New York Islanders threw just it all at Boston Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask, and though Rask stopped all but one of New York’s 40 shots, it was a last-second block by Chris Kelly on a Johnny Boychuk blast that saved the day, sealing the deal on the B’s 2-1 win at TD Garden on Saturday night.
With the B’s strong focus on creating favorable matchups for their squad, the Islanders found a way to strike first, with John Tavares banging his 24th of the year home just 33 seconds into their first power play of the night. It’s of no shock that Tavares’ strike, his 6th goal and 12th point in just 11 games at TD Garden, came on his only first-period shift that didn’t feature one of Patrice Bergeron or Zdeno Chara matched up against him (the shorthanded Bruins had the Gregory Campbell and Danny Paille combo up front, and the Adam McQuaid-Dennis Seidenberg defensive pairing out there for the goal against).
The Bruins countered with a power-play goal of their against, beating the league’s worst penalty killing unit behind Patrice Bergeron’s 14th goal of the season, and his third in the last four games.
Deadlocked after one, the high-flying Islander offense took it up a peg in the second period, but the 27-year-old Rask met their challenge, stopping all 16 shots against in a scoreless middle frame.
And as Chad Johnson and Rask traded save for save, and the teams in front of them traded hit for hit, a reuniting of the Bruins’ most impactful one-two scoring punch in 2014-15 delivered. With Eriksson popping back down to the right wing of the Soderberg line, the 29-year-old delivered with a no-look, backhand strike in front of the Islander net, punching it by Johnson for a 2-1 Boston edge with just 7:34 to go in the third.
The goal would hold as the winner, too, with Rask finishing his night with 39 stops, and the Bruins taking the season series against the Islanders with wins in two of their three meetings. For the Bruins, it was the start they expected, and needed, with a Sunday night showdown with Montreal on deck.
Random thoughts and notes
- What worked for the Black and Gold in this one? Their forecheck. Right off the bat, the B’s sent everybody flying in at the Islander defense, and really created a lot of icings, mistakes, and turnovers from a panicking New York blue line. Numerous prolonged stretches where the Islanders were forced into bad decisions with the puck, or simply had nowhere to break out of their own zone. It was hard for the Bruins to maintain that style over a 60-minute stretch, but when it came, it undoubtedly had its rewards.
- The right wing shuffling continued on throughout the night, but ended with what the Bruins have seemingly mapped out as their ideal lineup; Pastrnak was with Krejci and Lucic, while Eriksson was back with Kelly and Soderberg. But things got a bit more interesting with the Bergeron line, as Danny Paille received a promotion of sorts on up to the second line, while Reilly Smith logged just three third-period shifts. Not a great night for No. 18, whose night ended after a lackadaisical pass (turnover) on the power play. Finding a place for Smith has proven to be a tedious task for Julien this year, and while putting Smith with ol’ reliable (Bergeron and Marchand) is the easy call, it’s clear that they want No. 18 to be more than a passenger. - Here’s Torey Krug and Ryan Strome dropping the mitts.
- John Tavares’ contract is probably the biggest steal in the NHL. This dude is a legit superstar in the now, and it’s absolutely insane to think that this is a player that’s counting for just $5.5 million on the Islander salary cap ‘til 2018. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are paying $10.5 million for Jonathan Toews, the Pens $9.5 million for Malkin, and the list goes on. Pure insanity.
- Tale of two goaltenders for the Islanders, really. In two games against the Bruins this season, Chad Johnson is 1-1-0, with a .941 save percentage (he’s stopped all but four of the 68 shots thrown his way). Against the rest of the league, however, Johnson has a disappointing .857 save percentage and 5-6-0 record. Much has been made about the former Bruin backup’s problems on Long Island, as he’s been anything but the dependable spot-starter he was a year ago, but he was far from the problem in this one.
Up next
Tomorrow night. In their final head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Boston Bruins will play host to the Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins have yet to beat the hated Habs, too, posting an 0-3-0 record against Montreal this season, including a listless 2-0 loss to the club at the TD Garden back on Nov. 22.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com