Final, Islanders 2-1: The offense was nowhere to be found, and the Bruins are sent home with the loss.
Third period, 18:47, Islanders 2-1: Tuukka Rask has been pulled for the extra skater, as the Bruins look to extend the game.
Third period, 14:55, Islanders 2-1: The reason the Bruins are still in this game is Tuukka Rask.
The Boston goalie made sure the B’s stayed within a goal as he made his save of the game stopping Josh Bailey on a breakaway, denying the forward a chance at the hat trick.
Third period, 11:49, Islanders 2-1: The puck control issues have only continued for the Bruins who are playing another sloppy game.
Not that we really need the stats to back us up on this one, it’s probably worth noting that the B’s have 10 giveaways and just eight takeaways. That’s a far cry from Saturday night in Montreal where they gave it away 12 times with only one takeaway, but the discrepancy does illustrate that they’re not only being careless with the puck, but they’re not doing enough to get the puck away either.
Somehow, the Bruins are still outshooting the Islanders in the third period, but they have nothing in the way of scoring chances.
Third period, 6:35, Islanders 2-1: This is not the way the Bruins must have envisioned the third period going.
The B’s look sloppy with the puck, and they’re having some troubles with the breakout passes. This has been a recurring issue for them this season, and it’s no doubt contributing to the issues they’re having offensively at the moment.
Third period, 0:01, Islanders 2-1: Well, here we go. The Bruins are looking to come from behind as they open the third trailing 2-1.
Second period reaction: The Bruins do look a little more engaged than they have in the last week or so, but the problem right now is that the Islanders are playing some pretty good hockey. The B’s were able to seemingly score at will against Carolina and New Jersey, two teams that can’t get out of their own way right now. However, the Islanders aren’t letting them get those types of opportunities right now. On the rare occasions that the B’s are getting good scoring chances, they aren’t capitalizing.
The lone exception to that, though, was in the second period on the power play. Tyler Seguin, who scored on Wednesday against New Jersey, scored his second goal in as many games when he ripped a shot by Evgeni Nabokov. If Seguin can get his scoring game going, that will be a huge boost for the B’s, especially if they’re without Brad Marchand for an extended period of time.
If you’re still looking for something out of Milan Lucic, you haven’t found it in the first 40 minutes of this game. The forward continues to be a ghost, with just one shot and one hit in 10:04 of ice time thus far.
End second period, Islanders 2-1: The second period comes to an end with the Islanders holding a 2-1 lead. New York also outshot the Bruins 18-8 in the second period.
Second period, 17:45, Islanders 2-1: The Bruins had a chance to tie the game late in the second period, but Evgeni Nabokov made his best save of the game thus far.
Zdeno Chara did some nifty stickhandling to get the puck deep in the Islanders’ zone before he flipped a backhanded pass across the slot. Chris Kelly tried to put it home, but Nabokov made a right toe save to preserve the lead.
Second period, 13:12, Islanders 2-1: Tuukka Rask had been sensational in this one, but he just gave up what is a pretty bad goal.
He made the initial save on a Josh Bailey shot from the left wing, but the puck trickled down behind Rask and over the goal line to give New York the 2-1 lead.
Second period, 10:02, 1-1: The Islanders are starting to come with a little more pressure here midway through the second period. The Islanders are currently outshooting the Bruins actually. Luckily for the B’s, it looks like Tuukka Rask is has his good stuff yet again.
New York almost took the lead on a play similar to a near chance from the B’s in the first period, as Matt Moulson tried to jam home the go-ahead goal. However, Rask was able to keep it out and smuggle the puck to keep the game tied 1-1.
Second period, 3:41, 1-1: Tyler Seguin is starting to come alive a little bit, and he does it this time on the power play.
The Bruins’ first unit gets them going, and Seguin is the one who put the goal away. He took a cross-slot pass from Gregory Campbell and then ripped a wrist shot from the left circle to tie the game.
Second period, 2:15, Islanders 1-0: The Bruins are about to go on their first power play of the evening.
Brad Boyes just picked up a delay of game penalty for putting the puck over the glass.
Second period, 0:15, Islanders 1-0: The second period is underway here in Boston.
First period reaction: The Bruins seemed to control play for much of the first period, but they couldn’t put the puck in the net. In case you’re new around these parts, putting the puck in the net is kind of the point of the game, so that’s not good news for them.
That was a tough lapse in the final minute to give up the goal to Josh Bailey. The Bruins got sloppy with the puck in the New York end, and the B’s were slow in getting back on defense, which led to a 4-on-2 rush that eventually led to the goal.
The Bruins, after putting up just 18 shots on goal all night against New Jersey, were able to get 16 shots on net in the first period of this one. But then again, a 130-foot slapper from the neutral zone was also called a shot for the B’s, so you take that number for what it’s worth.
One player I was really impressed with in the first was Jordan Caron. He’s certainly trying to make the most out of his opportunities to play, and he’s been good here in the first. He put a game-high four shots on goal in just 4:33. He had a couple of scoring chances and showed no fear in getting to the front of the net to try and score.
End first period, Islanders 1-0: The first period ends with the Islanders leading 1-0 here at the Garden.
First period, 19:40, Islanders 1-0: We looked destined to be heading for a scoreless first period, but the Islanders took full advantage of a turnover by the B’s in the New York zone.
The B’s turned it over and the Isles took it the other way where Josh Bailey ripped a shot from the left wing that went up and over the left shoulder of Tuukka Rask to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead.
First period, 14:40, 0-0: The Bruins were able to kill off the first penalty of the game. Tuukka Rask made a couple of nice saves, and Boston got a big effort out of Chris Kelly who was all over the ice late in the kill despite having broken his stick at the beginning of his shift.
First period, 12:26, 0-0: David Krejci is given the game’s first penalty after he was called for tripping. It was, to put it lightly, a questionable call, as it appeared New York’s Travis Hamonic just lost his footing in the corner. However, Hamonic did hurt himself on the play, and he was helped off the ice.
First period, 11:47, 0-0: If Jaromir Jagr is near the crease, chances are he’s going to get a chance to tip the puck on goal.
He just did it once again, but this attempt was stopped by Evgeni Nabokov and the game remains scoreless.
First period, 9:26, 0-0: The Bruins almost score the game’s first goal, but the whistle is blown before Jordan Caron is able to jam home the loose puck in the crease.
It looked like the puck might have crossed the line, but I think it stayed out by centimeters, according to replays. For his troubles, Caron got a couple of shots to the chops from Michael Grabner who didn’t appreciate the Boston younger’s repeated attempts to get the puck loose.
First period, 6:18, 0-0: This certainly hasn’t been the most exciting six minutes of hockey.
The two teams have only combined for two three shots so far, with the B’s holding the 2-1 edge in that category. They had a borderline scoring chance when a puck was put in front for Jordan Caron, but he couldn’t do much with it, and the chance was gone.
First period, 0:10, 0-0: The game is underway here at the Garden.
7 p.m.: If you’re trying to find the game on NESN, it’s on NESN Plus. You can get your listings here.
6:50 p.m.: Dougie Hamilton was not on the ice for pregame warmups. He’s going to be a healthy scratch for this one while Adam McQuaid returns to the lineup.
6:40 p.m.: The Bruins had to do something different with their lines in the absence of Brad Marchand, and we now look to have the answer as to that plan.
According to pregame skate, Milan Lucic will take Marchand’s place on a line with Gregory Campbell and Jaromir Jagr. Meanwhile, Daniel Paille moves up to the first line in Lucic’s place alongside David Krejci and Nathan Horton. It also looks like it will be Kaspars Daugavins who is inserted into the lineup. He was skating on a wing with Rich Peverley and Shawn Thornton. Then again, it may also be Jay Pandolfo who finds himself on the fourth line.
6:30 p.m.: The Bruins just took the ice for pregame warmups. They’re wearing camo sweaters for the pregame skate, as it’s Military Appreciation Night here at the Garden.
Tuukka Rask gets the start for the Bruins, while Evgeni Nabokov will be between the pipes for the Islanders.
6:25 p.m.: The news continues to break before the teams even take the ice for pregame warmups. The Bruins have announced that Brad Marchand suffered a mild concussion. That’s all the information they gave upon making the announcement.
3:30 p.m.: Milan Lucic probably knew this was coming. That’s one of the things that comes with a brand-new contract.
The usually bruising Bruins forward has not lived up to expectations this season, especially after he showcased a rather quick start. It was rumored that he had come back from the lockout of shape, notions that were seemingly disproved by Lucic’s two goals in the first three games of the season. However, it’s been all downhill since then for Lucic, and things have only gotten worse as of late.
Lucic enters Thursday night’s game having only score one goal since Feb. 24, a stretch of 24 games. Lucic seems to disappear for stretches of games, and he’s not even getting shots on net. Aside from a five-shot performance against Carolina on Monday, Lucic hasn’t put more than two shots on goal in a game since March 17.
His play in his own end and in the neutral zone is suffering, too. We saw that Wednesday night when he was totally outworked for a puck that he turned over in the neutral zone, a turnover that led directly to a Travis Zajac goal.
If the Bruins are going to do anything in the postseason, they’re going to need much more out of Lucic. After going goalless and tallying just three assists in the Bruins’ playoff loss to Washington last season, the pressure will certainly be on Lucic to pick things up moving forward.
2:55 p.m.: Chris Kelly is already making an impact since returning to the lineup prior to Monday’s game with Carolina. I took a little deeper look at that, and you can read that story by clicking here.
1:55 p.m.: There’s still no update on Brad Marchand, but there is an update on the man who elbowed him in the head.
The NHL announced Thursday afternoon that Anton Volchenkov has been suspended four games for elbowing Marchand in the head. Read more on that by clicking here.
1:15 p.m.: Once again, it’s a busy day of hockey in Boston, and we’re still six hours from getting things underway at TD Garden.
The Bruins had a limited morning skate a couple of hours ago, but the good news is that Patrice Bergeron was back on the ice. The center is still recovering from a concussion, but he was back out on the ice for all to see Thursday morning at the Garden. He was among just six Bruins who took the ice for the skate.
Also joining Bergeron was defenseman Adam McQuaid. The big blueliner has been cleared to return after missing the last few weeks with a shoulder injury. He’s hoping to make his first appearance since March 19 after he suffered the injury in his first shift of a game against Winnipeg.
While that’s good news on Bergeron and McQuaid, there’s really no news at this point on Brad Marchand. The winger looked to be in a bad way after taking a high elbow to the head from Anton Volchenkov on Wednesday night, and Claude Julien offered no update following morning skate. According to the head coach, Marchand was to be reassessed later in the day, so hopefully we’ll know more a little later.
8 a.m.: If the playoffs started today, the Bruins would be hosting the New York Islanders in the first round. In that respect, Thursday night’s tilt between the two clubs might be a playoff preview.
The Islanders are one of the hottest teams in the league right now, as they come into Boston having won two straight and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. The Isles currently control their fate in trying to chase down what would be their first playoff appearance since 2006-07.
The Bruins, meanwhile, are trying to right the ship at the moment. While the results have been there (six wins in their last 10 games), the B’s are still searching for more complete 60-minute efforts.
It doesn’t help that they continue to be nipped by the injury bug. The latest injury came Wednesday night when Anton Volchenkov caught Brad Marchand with a high elbow. It’s unclear what Marchand’s injury situation is at the moment, but it certainly didn’t look good. Patrice Bergeron remains out with a concussion. If Marchand is out for an extended period of time, you could argue that the B’s would be playing without their two best forwards for the time being.
The B’s and Isles are set to get underway at 7 p.m. The game will be shown on NESN Plus. Find your listings here.
