BSJ Game Report: Bruins 3, Islanders 2 (OT) - Hall's OT winner secures B's/Caps playoff matchup

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-2 overtime win over the Islanders  in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES

The East Division playoff matchups are officially locked in.

The Bruins closed out their final home game of the 2021 regular season with a dramatic win, as Taylor Hall buried his second goal of the evening at 2:53 in overtime to hand Boston a 3-2 victory over the Islanders.

By securing another pair of points in the standings, Boston has locked down the No. 3 seed in the East Division and will take on the Capitals in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs — with Game 1 in D.C. set for 7:15 p.m. on Saturday night.

Hall scored twice for the B's during Monday's matchup — rifling a puck home from a tough angle on the power play at 19:21 in the first period before dispatching the Isles off of a highlight-reel tally in OT, finding twine off of a filthy backhand shot.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1391902562509631489

Brad Marchand also scored for the Bruins, who — despite trading goals with the Isles and failing to build much breathing room, still outshot New York, 38-18, in the win. Tuukka Rask stopped 16 of the 18 shots that came his way in what will likely be his final start of the regular season.

While we'll comb over the upcoming matchup between the B's and Caps and the fallout from Boston securing the No. 3 seed (yours truly is a fan), Monday's win also gives Bruce Cassidy a chance to rest plenty of his regulars for Tuesday's regular-season finale against Washington — avoiding any potential last-minute injuries to key cogs and giving plenty of bodies some much-needed time off. Sure seems like a win-win to me.

Kase exits with upper-body injury

Aside from playoff-matchup implications, there isn't a whole lot to keep tabs on at this point of the season, with most teams locking in on line combinations and setting their rosters in stone ahead of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But Monday did offer plenty of intrigue in the form of winger Ondrej Kase — who was set to make his return after missing the previous 52 games with a likely concussion.

With the skilled winger slotted in on a speedy fourth line next to Jake DeBrusk and Curtis Lazar, there was reason for optimism that Boston's bottom-six was in line to get another shot in the arm alongside a heavier third line featuring Sean Kuraly and Nick Ritchie.

But in a brutal break for Kase after an arduous road back from injury, the 25-year-old winger only ended up logging 6:49 of ice time before exiting the game after the second intermission with an upper-body injury. There wasn't a clear-cut play that signaled Kase's injury, although he did take a heavy hit from Adam Pelech and immediately popped back up.

Postgame, Cassidy didn't have much of an update on Kase, but noted that the forward was likely not going to play on Tuesday against the Caps.

Obviously, just an awful, awful string of luck for Kase — who worked his way back up for months and actually looked pretty solid next to DeBrusk and Lazar before leaving the contest. Of course, it's a tough break considering Boston could use his skill in the bottom six, but above all else — here's hoping that this isn't yet another concussion-related issue. And if so, Kase might need to take a long look at what lies beyond hockey, because it's tough to ignore his string of injuries over the years.

TWO UP

David Krejci: Krejci continues to be right on schedule when it comes to heating up in May. The B's second-line pivot finished with three helpers on the night, including a nifty saucer feed that Marchand buried in the second period of play. During the 8:21 of 5v5 ice time in which the Hall-Krejci-Smith line was deployed on Monday, Boston held a 6-0 edge in scoring chances.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1391909815178481670

Taylor Hall: Ho hum, just another monstrous game from Hall. Aside from his two tallies, Hall also drew a pair of penalties and snuffed out some chances down the other end of the ice via timely backchecks. Add in his smooth transition game, and man — the Bruins sure have a special player here. Since arriving in Boston, the Bruins have outscored opponents, 15-1, at 5v5 play when Hall has been out on the ice.

TWO DOWN

Leo Komarov: Man, what was this from Komarov? Sure, questions about just how much David Pastrnak hammed it up here might have some merit — but just an unnecessary move from a guy with a less-than-stellar reputation in Komarov.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1391901917429764097

Tuukka Rask: Bit of a meh showing from Rask in his final tune-up before the playoffs. While I won't fault him for the second goal (a snipe from Mat Barzal), Rask was a bit slow to react on Oliver Wahlstrom's power-play tally in the second period of action.

PLAY OF THE GAME

I mean, what did you think it was going to be? Filth.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1391932169593966592

PARTING THOUGHTS

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1391891100080693249

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Sure seems like Hall is happy to be a Boston Bruin.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1391935554007322625

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will close out the 2021 regular season on Tuesday night against the team that they're going to meet again in the playoffs in the Caps. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Capital One Arena.