The Boston Bruins continued their winning ways with a 5-0 drubbing of the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Islanders Tuesday night at Nassau Coliseum.
In David Pastrnak’s much-anticipated return to Boston’s top line, it was the bottom six that led the offensive charge as the Bruins utterly outmatched the Islanders in seemingly every facet, outshooting New York 39-13.
Sean Kuraly led Boston with a pair of goals, while Noel Acciari, Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk also lit the lamp.
Tuukka Rask made 13 saves for the Bruins in posting his fourth shutout of the season, while Robin Lehner pushed away 34 shots for the Islanders.
The Bruins move to 44-20-9 with the win, while the Islanders fall to 42-24-7 with the loss.
Here’s how it all went down:
BRUINS ON BOARD EARLY
The Bruins could not have asked for much better of a start, lighting the lamp in the early minutes while utterly dominating the action in the opening 20, taking a 1-0 lead into the break after outshooting the Isle 14-2.
Boston came out flying, taking just 72 seconds to find the twine. Kuraly forced a turnover in the corner, then recovered a puck shuffled by a pinching Charlie McAvoy near the right face-off circle. Kuraly turned and fired a shot from the face-off dot that beat Lehner glove side.
Boston had several more opportunities from there, leading New York 7-0 in scoring chances in the period, but were unable to build on their early lead.
B’s CONTINUE DOMINANCE
Boston continued to run the Islanders out of their own building in the second period, potting a pair of goals and outshooting New York 10-6 in the middle 20.
Zdeno Chara set the tone for the second, dropping the gloves with Matt Martin right after the opening face-off, earning the takedown.
The Bruins doubled their lead not long after that — this time being the beneficiary of a brutal mishap by the Islanders in their defensive zone. Cal Clutterback retrieved a puck by himself in the defensive with Acciari giving chase. Clutterbuck lost control of the puck, giving way to Acciari, who scooped the puck up and beat Lehner through the five hole.
The Bruins killed off their only penalty of the period after David Pastrnak was whistled for high sticking.
And in a theme of the first two periods, the bottom six continued to produce, with Kuraly finding the net for his second goal of the game.
Kuraly poked a puck behind the net, where Danton Heinen picked it up and wheeled around the net, throwing the puck in front where Kuraly was able to corral it and bury a shot blocker side.
The Bruins got there first power play chance after a Adam Pelech hooking penalty at 17:46 and were unable to convert on the man advantage. But plenty of damage had been done in the period by that point, as Boston carried a 3-0 lead into the third.
BRUINS BREEZE TO VICTORY
After dominating the opening 40 minutes, the Bruins kept pace, tacking on a pair of goals in the third to round out their evisceration of the Isle.
Bergeron made it 4-0 at 6:32 after receiving a feed in the slot from Joakim Nordstrom, with Pastrnak’s net-front drive creating enough space for Bergeron to bury his 28th of the season.
The floodgates remained opened from there, with DeBrusk tacking on another goal when he buried a breakaway chance after darting out of the penalty box.
UP NEXT
The Bruins remain on the road for a tilt with the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Puck drop from Prudential Center is slated for 7 p.m.
This Bruins Wrap is presented by Plainridge Park Casino.
