FINAL: Bruins 5, Islanders 2- Coyle's hat trick highlights B's win

The Bruins defeated the New York Islanders 5-2 on Thursday night to improve to 11-1-1 on the season. Charlie Coyle was the story in this one as he recorded his first career hat trick. 

He's just a team first guy, but when he has that jump like he had tonight, he becomes a dynamic offensive player," Jim Montgomery told reporters about Coyle after the game. 

The B's took a 1-0 lead at the 14:05 mark of the first period when Trent Frederic scored his third goal of the season. The Islanders responded at the 17:23 mark when Brock Nelson scored his sixth goal of the season on the power play to tie it 1-1.

The second period was highlighted by a goal from Coyle on the power play to give the B's a 2-1 lead at the 6:06 mark. That was also Coyle's 150th career goal. 

New York did not go away in the third period as Simon Holmstrom scored a shorthanded goal at the 2:50 mark to tie it up at two a piece. Boston answered back quickly as David Pastrnak scored his 10th goal on the season at the 3:33 mark to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead. The B's did not stop there because Coyle added his second goal on the night at the 9:26 mark to make it 4-2. Trent Frederic and James Van Riemsdyk were credited with the assists on the goal. Van Riemsdyk recorded his 600th career point on that assist tonight. Coyle scored once again at the 18:39 mark on an empty net to record his first career hat trick. Boston outshot the Islanders 17-9 in the third period. 

"It feels good. The end result of a lot of good plays and passes...sometimes it just goes that way. In a sense, it kind of feels like getting your first goal out of the way...those are milestones you kind of think about," Coyle told reporters after the game. 

Linus Ullmark finished the night with 27 saves in net for Boston. 

The Bruins will be back in action on Saturday night when they will be north of the border in Montreal for an Original Six matchup with the Canadiens at 7p.m. 

________________________

WHO: Islanders (5-3-3) at Bruins (10-1-1)    
WHEN: 7p.m.    
WHERE: TD Garden, Boston.   
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
LIVE BOX SCORE
ROSTERS

PREDICTED LINES

BOSTON
Marchand-Zacha-Pastrnak
Van Riemsdyk-Coyle-Frederic
Heinen-Poitras-DeBrusk
Brown-Beecher-Steen
Lauko

Lindholm-Mitchell
Lohrei-Carlo
Forbort-Shattenkirk
Wotherspoon-McAvoy

Ullmark
Swayman

ISLANDERS
Lee- Horvat- Barzal
 Palmieri- Nelson-Wahlstrom
Holmstrom -Gabriel Pageau-Fasching
 Martin- Cizikas - Clutterbuck

Pelech - Dobson

 Romanov - Pulock

 Bolduc - Aho

Sorokin
Varlamov

PREGAME NOTES

The Bruins return to TD Garden to take on the New York Islanders tonight at 7 p.m. Derek Forbort is probable to return tonight after missing the last three games due to an injury. “We will see in warmups,” Jim Montgomery said this morning. 

“That's the last hurdle but we think he's going to be a go," Jim Montgomery told reports this morning. 

Forbort's return will be a huge help for the B's blue line as they are still without Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk. 

Both Milan Lucic and Grzelcyk took the ice this morning as they begin to progress towards a return to action. Lucic has not played sicne October 21st in Los Angeles, and Grzelcyk has missed the last three games. 

The National Hockey League announced that Charlie McAvoy lost the appeal of his four-game suspension from his illegal check last month to Oliver Ekman-Larsson. McAvoy will not be available to return to action until Saturday night at Montreal. 

The Islanders enter tonight with a 5-3-3 record on the season. “They're playing a lot more aggressively offensively, which I think has made them better offensively,” Jim Montgomery told reporters this morning. “They're giving up a little bit more, but they're still a really good defensive team," Montgomery continued. 

Noah Dobson leads New York with 11 points in 11 games so far this season.  Dobsons' four goals are tied with Bo Horvat who is day-to-day with an injury - for second on the team. Brock Nielson leads the Islanders  with 5 goals this season.

The Islanders enter tonight as the only team in the league with a 100% penalty kill on the road this season. New York is also searching for their third straight road win tonight. A win for the Islanders  would be their first one at TD Garden since March 25th,2021. New York also enters tonight sitting only one point behind Toronto for the East's second wild card spot. 

Boston will need to watch out for Jean-Gabriel Pageau as he has scored more goals against the B's (12) than any other team he has faced in his career. He  also recorded 21 points (12 goals, nine assists) in 36 career meetings with Boston, leading all active Islanders against the Bruins, also tied with the New Jersey Devils for the most points that he has recorded against one opponent in his career. 

New York has scored first in eight of their ten games this season. The Islanders are 5-0-3 when scoring first this season. 

The Islander have two players close to hitting some milestones. Pierre Engvall only needs two points to reach 100 for his career, and Casey Cizikas also only needs one goal to reach 100 for his career.