The Boston Bruins were in desperate need of something to go right after losing four straight games and falling out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, and that’s exactly what happened Saturday night.
Riley Nash scored two goals and propelled the B’s to a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders at Barclays Center. As a result, the Bruins moved two points ahead of the Islanders in the race for the final wild-card spot.
With the win, Boston improved to 39-30-6, while New York dropped to 35-27-12.
Here’s how it all went down.
NOT BAD, BUT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
John Tavares opened the scoring when he picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skated his way through the Bruins’ defense and ripped one past B’s netminder Anton Khudobin for a filthy goal from the top of the slot.
But the Islanders only had the lead for 36 seconds thanks to Riley Nash’s unassisted goal. Nash skated from the boards to the left faceoff circle, where he beat Isles goalie Thomas Greiss with an impressive goal of his own.
It appeared the Bruins then took the lead a few minutes later when Frank Vatrano knocked home a rebound after David Krejci’s original shot was stopped. But, the goal was reversed after replay determined David Backes interfered with Greiss.
HAVE A DAY, RILEY NASH
Neither team scored in the second period, but Nash finally broke the tie when he scored his second goal of the game 4:12 into the third frame. Dominic Moore found Nash with a cross-ice pass, and the forward then skated toward the right circle and beat Greiss once again.
UP NEXT
The Bruins will return to TD Garden for three consecutive games and six out of their last seven contests. The first of those games will take place Tuesday against the Nashville Predators at 7 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Anthony Gruppuso/USA TODAY Sports Images
