Bruins Wrap: Shorthanded Boston Drops Second Straight Vs. Islanders

The shorthanded Boston Bruins dropped their second straight game Thursday night as they fell to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena, 3-1.

With the loss the Bruins’ record fell to 14-10-2, while New York improved to 8-12-5 with the win.

You can check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Bruins have been dealing with an outbreak of COVID-19 as cases have risen around the league and it certainly showed against the Islanders. Boston rolled out an interesting lineup on the road as they tried to make due and although they played a solid game were unable to find the back of the net.

Boston actually outshot the Islanders in the game 41-28, but just couldn’t get anything past Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov who stopped a season-high 40 shots on the night for surprisingly just his first win of the season.

This isn’t the first time this season the Bruins outshot their opponent but were unable to muster up any offense, but the five-on-five play wasn’t there but that isn’t too surprising with all of the squad’s absences.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Varlamov was a brick wall between the pipes for the Islanders en route to his first win of the 2021-22 NHL season. The Islanders netminder has been one of the best goaltenders in the league in recent years but similar to the squad itself has had a down year so far, but put up a vintage performance.

— The Bruins may not have won Thursday, but Charlie McAvoy was impressive once again on the Boston blue line. In 26:37 time on ice McAvoy still finished the game neutral plus/minus despite the Bruins losing by three goals.

— Islanders wingers Cal Clutterbuck and Anthony Beauvillier potted the threes goals for the Islanders in the win. It was Clutterbuck’s fourth and fifth this season and Beauvillier’s fourth as well. Bruins defenseman Mike Reilly netted Boston’s lone goal.

WAGER WATCH
With the Bruins dealing with a plethora of COVID-19 issues for the tilt with the Islanders sat at just 2.5 with odds set at -105 according to DraftKings Sportsbook. If you had placed a $105 wager on the under you would’ve walked away with $100 profit on the night.

UP NEXT ON NESN
Barring any more COVID-19 issues the Bruins will take a day off Friday to travel to Canada ahead of their Saturday night matchup with the Montreal Canadiens. All pre- and postgame coverage can be found right here on NESN beginning at 6 p.m. ET.