|
 Right winger David Pasternak scored the go-ahead goal late in the
second period and the Bruins went on to beat the New York Islanders
5-3 at the Barclays Center.
The game was the Bruins' first in the arena, where the Islanders
began playing this month after 42 seasons at Nassau Coliseum on Long
Island. With the latest win, Boston is 9-3-1 in road games against
the Islanders, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils since the
2012-13 season.
"It's a weird game -- some buildings, you just can't win," said
right winger Brett Connolly, who scored Boston's first goal. "I know
last year, Montreal, just for whatever reason, we couldn't get
anything going against them."
The Canadiens outscored the Bruins 11-5 in sweeping two games at the
Bell Centre in Montreal.
"Then you come into New York and we play well," Connolly said. "So
it's a funny game. Some buildings, you just play well."
A sizable contingent of fans clad in black and gold accounted for
most of the noise as Islanders fans in the announced crowd of 13,113
cheered loudest when members of the National League champion New
York Mets were shown watching the game from seats near the ice.
"It was nice to see those fans," Bruins coach Claude Julien said.
"When we scored those goals, seemed to have a lot of them. Certainly
helps the visiting team feel a lot better."
The Bruins didn't initially give the clad in black and gold much to
cheer about as New York outshot Boston 18-8 in taking a 2-1 lead
after one period.
Connolly's goal put the Bruins ahead at 9:51, but New York scored
twice -- on goals by center Josh Bailey and center Casey Cizikas --
in a span of 79 seconds.
"I thought our first period was one of those periods where we didn't
play hard enough in the 'D' zone, and the result of that (was) they
managed to get a couple of goals on us," Julien said. "But once we
started playing harder and managed the puck better, we played less
time in our zone."
The Bruins outshot the Islanders 11-5 in the second perio dand took
the lead in the final four minutes, when center Joonas Kemppainen
and Pasternak scored 2:03 apart.
"We talked about it after the first -- we knew they would make a
push," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said.
Both goals were at least partially the result of sloppiness by the
Islanders. Kemppainen put back a rebound during a chance created
when center Ryan Spooner picked off the puck near the blue line.
Pasternak's go-ahead goal was generated when he collected a loose
puck in the slot, turned and fired a shot through two Islanders
defensemen.
"When you don't manage the puck, you're not going to have success,"
Capuano said. "We had too many turnovers, too many giveaways. It's
going to tilt the ice. It's going to lead to more zone time for the
opposition."
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Spooner was credited with a goal at 8:09 of the third period when
his pass across the crease ticked off the skates of Islanders
defenseman Marek Zidlicky.
Center David Krejci scored an empty-netter with 2:25 left as the
Bruins (3-3-1) won for the third time in four games (3-0-1) and
improved to 3-0-0 on the road.
"Points in our last four games," Connolly said. "We had a tough
start to the season, but we're coming on here and we're starting to
play a little better."
Goalie Jonas Gustavsson, starting the night before his 31st
birthday, made 23 saves.
"Better than most presents I get," Gustavsson said with a grin. "A
win is always nice. It's better to celebrate a birthday with a win."
Defenseman Thomas Hickey added a goal with 1:53 remaining in the
third period for the Islanders (4-2-1), who had a four-game winning
streak snapped and lost in regulation at Barclays for the first time
(3-1-1).
Goalie Jaroslav Halak made 21 saves but allowed more goals than he
did in his first two starts combined (three).
NOTES: The Bruins are the first Eastern Conference team to visit
Barclays Center and will also be the first visitor to play two games
at the building. The Islanders play host to the Bruins again on Nov.
8. ... The Islanders scratched RW Steve Bernier, G Thomas Greiss and
D Brian Strait. ... The Bruins scratched LW Matt Beleskey, C Max
Talbot and D Zach Trotman. ... Islanders D Johnny Boychuk, who was
acquired from the Bruins before last season, played in his 400th NHL
game. Bruins D Zdeno Chara, who began his career with the Islanders
in 1997, played in his 1,200th career game. ... Among the New York
Mets at the game were 2B Daniel Murphy, the National League
Championship Series MVP, as well as 3B David Wright, ace RHP Jacob
deGrom and RHP Matt Harvey, an avowed New York Rangers fan who
nonetheless held aloft the Islanders' third jersey with his number
33 on the back.
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