BSJ Game Report: Islanders 4, Bruins 1 - Bruins sleepwalk through ugly loss

ELMONT, N.Y.  — Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-1 loss to the Islanders, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES 

Bruins snooze through an ugly loss: The Bruins only left Madison Square Garden with one point on Tuesday night, but there were plenty of silver linings to go around on a night where Jeremy Swayman flashed plenty of potential and a shorthanded B’s roster hung with a fellow playoff team in the Rangers.

But even if the Bruins managed to somehow pull off a late-game comeback and escape Long Island with two points, I don’t think there would be any good tidings to report back after Boston sleepwalked through most of Thursday’s matchup against the Islanders. 

Of course, no comeback manifested for the Bruins, who dropped an ugly 4-1 game to a middling Islanders team that is bracing for a sell-off in the next couple of weeks. 

Yes, the Bruins still miss Brad Marchand. Yes, Marchand is far and away one of the best offensive conduits in the entire league. 

But there should be no excuses for Boston’s offense to dry up to this degree (four TOTAL goals during Marchand’s four-game absence), especially against a brutal Isles club that entered the night with a 3-16-2 record against teams currently occupying a playoff spot. 

Just a dreadful showing, to put it lightly. 

No clarity on Marchand’s appeal: Patrice Bergeron (19:46 TOI) might have returned to the ice on Thursday, but there is still no clarity on when Marchand could rejoin his teammates on the ice — at least before his six-game suspension runs out ahead of Boston’s road game against the Kraken on Feb. 24.

While Marchand had his in-person appeal meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Wednesday down in New York, it seems as though the B’s top winger isn’t going to get an answer for at least another day or so. 

Bruce Cassidy noted that Marchand went back to Boston after stating his case, with the winger potentially set to join the B’s in Ottawa if the NHL does eventually rule in his favor.

“He didn't feel they would rule this quickly," Cassidy said of Marchand. "I guess if it went in his favor, he could come meet us in Ottawa. ... I didn't get any information. ... I think it's at least a two-day process.”

One would think that the NHL could ease up on Marchand and knock off perhaps one game, which would then put Marchand in line to return for an anticipated bout against the Avalanche on Monday afternoon.  

But for now, both Marchand and, well, the rest of us, have little clarity in terms of the forward’s fate in the next week.

ONE  UP

Taylor Hall: Yes, Ilya Sorokin will absolutely want that first-period tally back, but good on Hall to take the initiative with the sharp-angle shot. It’s almost like your chances of getting rewarded spike when you let pucks fly early and often. Hall’s 5v5 production has been so-so this season, with Thursday’s tally standing as his fourth on the year. Hopefully a game like this gets him rolling a bit and encourages more of a shot-first mentality. After a night like tonight, the Bruins are gonna need it. 

FIVE DOWN

The whole second period: There was an awful lot to like about Boston’s start in this one, with the B’s holding a 10-1 edge in scoring chances against the Isles at 5v5 play. The following frame was a different story, however. 

By the time Jean-Gabriel Pageau tucked a rebound past Linus Ullmark on the power play, such an equalizer seemed all but inevitable, because Boston was pretty much asleep at the wheel. After getting outshot, 13-6, in the first period, New York flipped the script and outshot Boston, 13-7, in the second.  

Unfortunately, Boston just couldn’t respond after getting punched in the mouth during that middle frame. 

The entire sequence on Noah Dobson’s goal: I mean, the whole chain of events was downright heinous. Be it Jake DeBrusk committing a turnover on the offensive blue line (and later not getting in a shooting lane), Brandon Carlo coughing up a puck, Derek Forbort flubbing a breakout attempt or the sight of the puck bouncing off Linus Ullmark and into the net — just awful stuff from a five-man unit (Carlo-Forbort / DeBrusk-Haula-Foligno) that needs to be pulling on the rope a whole lot more.

David Pastrnak: Yet another awful showing from Pastrnak, who has continued to be plagued by a number of costly turnovers and unforced errors. His lack of effort to prevent the breakout that eventually led to Mat Barzal’s third-period dagger was a tough, tough look.

Trent Frederic: Frederic was just as guilty as Pastrnak on that weak, weak effort on the aforementioned breakout sequence. Just not good enough in any area from Frederic, who was also pushed around or late on D-zone assignments.

Haula Line: Boston’s bottom-six didn’t connect on any punches either in this one, with the Bruins only landing two shots on goal in the 8:11 of 5v5 ice time that the DeBrusk-Haula-Foligno line recorded together. Not to sound like a broken record … but just not nearly good enough.  

PLAY OF THE GAME

QUOTE OF NOTE

"Tonight, we're up one going into the second — that should be a signal for us to lay on the gas and keep going. Unfortunately, I don't think we did that." - Taylor Hall

LOOSE PUCKS

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will close out their four-game road trip on Saturday with another matchup against the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.