BSJ Game Report: Islanders 4, Bruins 1 - Islanders punch back, even up series

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-1 loss to the Islanders in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES

Well, there will be at least one more game at Nassau Coliseum. 

Gifted with a prime opportunity to give themselves a 3-1 stranglehold in their second-round series, the Bruins failed to capitalize against the Islanders on Saturday night — with David Pastrnak’s one-time whiff on an empty net serving as the emphatic stamp on a Game 4 loss plagued by missed chances and unforced errors. 

Despite taking the lead off of a power-play tally from David Krejci in the second period, the Bruins were unable to hold off the Isles — who stormed back with 5v5 tallies from Kyle Palmieri and Mathew Barzal en route to an eventual 4-1 victory for the home club.

Tuukka Rask stopped 30 of 32 shots that came his way in the loss, with the Isles knotting the best-of-seven series up at 2-2 going into a pivotal Game 5 on Monday evening. 

After Krejci’s tally, Boston seemingly had the Isles on the ropes — with a failed challenge from Barry Trotz for goaltender interference putting Boston right back on the man advantage. But after Boston failed to convert on the 5v4 sequence, momentum swung back in favor of New York, with Palmieri tying things up just 42 seconds after the B’s power play expired. 

As expected, the third frame was largely a defensive slog for both clubs — with Boston’s top-six struggling to find much in terms of traction and the bottom-six failing to make much of an impact in the O-zone at all. Barzal broke the deadlock by batting a puck home with 6:57 left in regulation — and the Isles promptly slammed the door shut the rest of the way. 

Boston failed to land a shot on goal against Semyon Varlamov for the final 6:18 of action — while the Isles added two empty-net tallies to put the final nails in the coffin.

New York deserves plenty of credit for neutralizing Boston’s big guns and grinding things out, but man, this sure felt like a missed opportunity for a B’s team that needed to end this war of attrition as soon as possible. 

TWO UP

Tuukka Rask: Once again, tough to find much fault with Rask’s play in this one — with the Isles’ two goals coming off of a slick set-up from Barzal and a bat-in tally from the same player in the third. As has been the case for most of this postseason, Rask did more than enough to keep Boston in this one — stopping eight high-danger scoring chances in a losing effort. 

Jarred Tinordi: I’ll give a stick tap to Tinordi here for stepping in and doing his job once again while pressed into service — logging 13:17 of ice time and coming up with two blocked shots on one PK shift. 

FIVE DOWN

David Pastrnak: It was far from a stellar showing from the entire top-six unit (New York had an 8-2 lead in shots on goal with the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line on the ice), but Pastrnak obviously takes the cake here with this bruuuutal miss. Can’t have this in a low-scoring series against the Isles. 

Third Line: Whether it be Jake DeBrusk getting neutralized via contact or Nick Ritchie failing to throw his weight around — this third line is due to get a major reshuffle ahead of Game 5. This line isn’t expected to consistently lead the way for Boston during the postseason, but they’re not showing much of anything in this series. 

Coaching: Cassidy and the Bruins’ coaching staff shouldn’t be absolved from this disappointing showing down at Nassau, especially given that a largely ineffective fourth line was out on the ice for Boston with 2:20 left in regulation — and the B’s trailing by one goal. If Boston’s big guns were gassed, a timeout could have been used, but regardless, you can’t have that fourth line deployed when you’re chasing a lead. 

Officiating: It was far from the main reason why Boston lost this one, and we won’t dwell on it beyond this — but this was a roooough game from the refs, with fairly obvious infractions (high-stick against Lauzon / boarding against McAvoy / multiple cross-checks for Barzal) not getting called.

Matt Grzelcyk: It was a roooough game for Grzelcyk and Boston's top D pairing — with the left-shot D out on the ice for four goals against. During the 13:04 of 5v5 ice time when the Grzelcyk-McAvoy pairing was deployed — the Isles held a 12-4 edge in shots on goal. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

PARTING THOUGHTS

What better way to ingratiate yourself to Bruins fans than by dropping the gloves? The last time Taylor Hall was slapped with a fighting major was way back on March 3, 2011. How long ago was that? Charlie McAvoy was only 13 years old. 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will now return to TD Garden for Game 5 on Monday night. Puck drop is set for 6:30 p.m.