Bruins pull out 4–3 shootout win over Islanders
The hard-out Bruins are indeed back And the B s may have just discovered a new offensive weapon Marat Khusnutdinov who tied the event late in regulation scored the only shootout goal to lift the B s to a - preeminence in a challenge in which they never led in regulation at UBS Arena on Tuesday It was their fourth straight triumph and the win snapped a four-game road losing streak This meeting was slow to boil but it turned into a fun one The Islanders took their third lead of the at of the third period The B s had just failed on a power play and Matthew Schaefer stepped out of the box to accept a pass at the Boston blue line He pushed it it to an onrushing Bo Horvat who beat Jeremy Swayman from the top of the left circle to give the Islanders a - lead It was a tough goal for Swayman to allow at that juncture of the competition but he did come up with a couple of big stops to keep the B s within a goal The turned up the heat and were able to absolutely tied it with left in the third period In a mad scramble Ilya Sorokin made a good stop on Fraser Minten from the slot but Khusnutdinov whose first goal was on OT game-winner against Buffalo last week darted into the slot to get the rebound and amount his second of the season on a sliding backhander Charlie McAvoy was called for high-sticking on Jonathan Drouin with left in regulation a call McAvoy They were able to kill off the -on- in regulation and then the brief on- in OT In the extra session both teams had chances to win it with the B s best opportunity coming on a David Pastrnak-to-McAvoy backdoor play but Sorokin made the pad stop to get it to the shootoout That s where Khusnutdinov scored the only goal the B s needed and Swayman stopped all three Islander shooters The first period was like an extension of the B s smothering - win over the Carolina Hurricanes They did not allow a shot on Jeremy Swayman until there was just left in the period The B s who had a shot advantage had excellent layers in the defensive zone When there was the rare misplay of the puck a teammate was there to cover It may not have been all that riveting to watch but for a B s company that had allowed forwards to roam free in the slot area just a week ago it s been a positive expansion The second period however looked nothing like the first as the teams traded a pair of goals each In the second the Isles got specific momentum early when Nikita Zadorov was called for a highly questionable tripping call The Islanders did not result on the power play but did get on board not too long after that on a play off a faceoff at Casey Cizikas beat Sean Kuraly on the draw in the right circle and Kyle MacLean tapped it back to Anthony Duclair From the high slot Duclair appeared to surprise Swayman that beat the goalie to the blocker side The B s got a PP opportunity of their own and did everything but amount Their best chance came when Morgan Geekie slipped a backhand pass through the crease to Pavel Zacha but Zacha heeled it wide Tempers flared when Zadorov belted young phenom defenseman Matthew Shaefer behind the Bruin net Zadorov was already going for interference but when Schaefer held on to his stick while the Islander was on his knees Zadorov ignited a brouhaha he tried to extricate himself a little too roughly When it was all explained and done Zadorov also got a double minor for roughing while Anders Lee and Duclair also got minors That gave the Isles a power play which the B s were able to kill off and then tie it up on a fortunate bounce at Viktor Arvidsson tried jammed the puck home from the side of the net but the rebound went wide bounced off of Lee and past Ilya Sorokin for Arvidsson s fourth of the year After the big kill and the goal the B s should have had all the momentum but they coughed up the lead just seconds later Geekie turned over the puck in the neutral zone giving the Islanders a quick -on- Matthew Barzal fed Bo Horvat for the - New York lead But before the period was out the B s tied it up on the power play with Lee in the box for crosschecking While Zacha had missed several scoring chances earlier in the championship he buried the puck into a half-open net when a puck squirted to him in the right circle with left in the period It was Zacha s third of the year The B s had another PP chance when Scott Mayfield took a crosschecking penalty seconds after the goal but they could not capitalize and the teams went into the third period tied - - Former Bruin Milan Lucic is continuing his comeback attempt Lucic signed a professional tryout contract with the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League Lucic had signed a tryout deal with the St Louis Blues in September but a training camp injury derailed any chance he had of making the club The Thunderbirds are the AHL affiliate of the Blues The Providence Bruins have a home-and-home with Springfield on December - Should he get his competition enoguh for the Blues to sign him to an NHL deal the Blues visit the Bruins at the Garden on December Lucic hasn t played since he was arrested and charged for domestic assault in November of while he was a member of the Bruins Lucic entered the NHL s athlete assistance project and the affair was eventually dismissed
