Hello, Brooklyn. Meet the Bruins.
Boston made its maiden voyage to the Barclays Center a successful one Friday night, scoring four of the final five goals in a 5-3 win over the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Islanders.
Five different players lit the lamp for the Bruins, who now have tallied four or more goals in four consecutive games and have yet to lose away from TD Garden.
FIRST PERIOD
The Bruins have struggled mightily at holding leads this season. That again was the case in the first.
Brett Connolly got things started for the visitors, blasting a loose puck past Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak to make it 1-0 Bruins. Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron were credited with assists.
The goal was Connolly’s second in as many games after the winger went without one in his first nine games in a Bruins sweater. Connolly’s offensive awakening began when he was placed on a line with Bergeron and Marchand, which likely is not a coincidence.
But once again, the Bruins’ advantage was fleeting.
A Marchand hooking penalty put the Islanders on the power play, and Josh Bailey beat Jonas Gustavsson to tie the game at one goal apiece. Gustavsson, Boston’s usual backup goaltender, denied an initial bid by John Tavares but could not recover to stop Bailey’s.
The Bruins entered the game with the NHL’s best power-play unit but the fourth-worst penalty kill, having allowed six power-play goals through their first six games.
New York struck again just 79 seconds later, with Casey Cizikas deflecting a Johnny Boychuk feed past Gustavsson. Adam McQuaid and Matt Martin decided to drop the gloves just seconds before the goal, leaving the Bruins vulnerable in front of the net.
The Islanders outshot the Bruins 18-8 in the first.
SECOND PERIOD
Struggling to find consistent possession, Bruins coach Claude Julien shuffled up his bottom-six forwards in the second. Ryan Spooner dropped down to the fourth line, with Zac Rinaldo moving up to the third.
Even with the changes, the B’s found a whole lot of nothing for much of the frame. The Islanders again dominated possession, and nearly all of Boston’s scoring chances came courtesy of either Marchand or Torey Krug.
But with less than four minutes to play in period, Julien’s tinkering finally produced some points. Fourth-line winger Joonas Kemppainen sent the rebound of a blocked Spooner shot past Halak to tie the game at two goals apiece.
It was the first NHL goal for the 27-year-old rookie, who spent the last seasons in the Swedish Elite League.
A 2-2 tie at the end of two would have been viewed as a win for the Bruins, but they instead were able to take a lead into the final frame, thanks to David Pastrnak.
Pastrnak, who was a subject of Julien’s criticism after a lackluster performance Wednesday night, had not scored since Boston’s regular-season opener.
THIRD PERIOD
Kemppainen and Spooner teamed up once more in the third to put the Bruins ahead 4-2. The roles were reversed this time around, with Kemppainen setting up the chance and Spooner finishing the job by bouncing one in off the skate of an Islanders defenseman.
Two-goal leads have been dangerous propositions for the Bruins this season, but they would not squander this one. David Krejci added an empty-netter to extend his point streak to seven games, and Thomas Hickey’s goal for the Isles was too little, too late.
Gustavsson finished with 23 saves to improve to 2-0-0 in his first season with the Bruins.
UP NEXT
The Bruins are off until Tuesday, when they take on the Arizona Coyotes for the second time this season.
Thumbnail photo via Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports Images
