The Islanders took a 3-2 series lead after beating the Bruins 5-4 in Game 5 on Monday.
Here are the takeaways
1. It didn’t take long for the Bruins to get rolling after their Game 4 loss – on their third shot on goal, David Pastrnak ripped a one-timer from Charlie McAvoy from the left circle that found the back of the net that gave Boston the early 1-0 just 1:25 into the period. The Bruins had seven scoring chances to the Islanders’ one through 8:30. The Islanders had just five shots through almost 19 minutes, but at 18:49, Mathew Barzal scored a power play goal to tie it up at one.
2. The scoring chances were still in favor of Boston, but the Islanders once again took advantage in the power play, as Kyle Palmieri scored 4:49 in to the second period and gave the Isles a 2-1 lead. Palmieri was by himself less than four minutes later, but Tuukka Rask stopped his shot and kept the lead at one. Brad Marchand showed some niftiness however, beating Andy Greene with a move to his backhand, then shifting back to the forehand inside the crease to barely squeak to puck by Semyon Varlamov to make it a 2-2 game. Josh Bailey gave the Isles the lead back though on a great feed from Jean-Gabriel Pageau, despite the Islanders having 10 less shots than the Bruins. The Isles then went on the power play 72 seconds later, and again scored. Jordan Eberle ripped a wrister from the circle on a cross-ice pass from Barzal, the Islanders were up 4-2 with 3:22 left in the second. The Bruins went on the power play with 1:10 left, but the Isles killed it off into the end of the second.
3. The Isles opened up the third period needing to kill 50 more seconds of the Bruins’ power play. About a minute after they did that, Brock Nelson found the back of the Net to give New York a commanding 5-2 lead. Adam Pelech headed to the bench, though, after a hooking penalty, and Pastrnak scored his second goal of the night. The Islanders went on their fourth powerplay of the night with just over 12 minutes to go, but couldn’t convert. With 5:17 to go, David Krejci scored on a rebound that just got by Varlamov to cut the Isles lead to just a goal. The Bruins pulled Rask with just under two minutes to go, but couldn’t take advantage with the extra-attacker, and now face a 3-2 deficit heading back to Long Island.
4. Despite winning by one, the Islanders were outshot 44-19, but they sure took advantage on the powerplay, scoring on three of their four powerplay opportunities.
5. Anthony Beauvillier and Noah Dobson each had two assists, while Varlamov stopped 40 shots.
Highlights
What’s next
The Islanders will look to make the Eastern Conference Finals for a second-straight year back at the Coliseum on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.