By: Julia Simone | Follow me on Twitter / X @j_simone40
The Boston Bruins met the New York Islanders on Causeway yesterday for their third game in four nights. Leading up to this game, the club had dropped three straight. There has been a lack of production and offense from players on both sides of the puck. It seems as though players are not clicking and finding chemistry as of late.
Joonas Korpisalo was between the pipes. Coming into this game, he had a 3-2-0 record in his last five games with a .869 save percentage. Early in the first period, Cole Koepke tipped the puck in after a great pass from Mark Kastelic to get the Bruins on the board. New York challenged this goal for goaltender interference.
The club lost the challenge, sending the Bruins to the power play where Bo Horvat netted a short-handed goal for the Islanders just 21 seconds after the Bruins’s initial goal. His goal would tie the game 1-1 in the first. The Islanders looked to be the better team throughout this period. They struck again after Ryan Pulock scored another goal for the club before the end of the period to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead.
The visitors continued to dominate in the second period. Anders Lee extended the team’s lead after a pass from Alexander Romanov. However, Justin Brazaeu’s one-timer cut the Islander’s lead in half midway through the second period. Mark Kastelic may not have been on the scoreboard, but he made an impact with his physicality. He registered four hits this game. B’s fans were thrilled to hear Kastelic signed a three-year contract extension with the team this past week.
Anders Lee found the back of the net at the start of the third period to increase the Islanders lead by two, making it 4-2. However, the Bruins were resilient, and David Pastrnak plotted a goal less than a minute after Lee’s goal. Late in the third period, the six-foot forward scored his second goal of the game to tie it 4-4. This was Pastrnak’s fourth goal of the weekend. He previously scored twice against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. With the score remaining 4-4 at the end of regulation, this game headed to overtime. The Bruins registered 26 shots on goal, while the Islanders registered 35 shots through three periods.
The Bruins had the majority of the puck possession in overtime but were unable to capitalize. Bo Horvat tallied his second goal of the game at 3:10 of overtime, lifting the Islanders past the Bruins. The Bruins did walk away from today’s game with a point but could not come away with the win. The team had played three games in the past four nights, but the Bruins did not want to use that as an excuse. Head coach Joe Sacco postgame said, “We do not want to make excuses we were not sharp…this is the league this is what you deal with in the league at times and that is where you need to dig in and grind it out.” The Bruins will look ahead to Tuesday night when Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers come to town.
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