Anthony Beauvillier has five goals this season. But he’s now scored two straight overtime winners.
Beauvillier knocked in a trickling puck at the crease just 21 seconds into the three-on-three period after defenseman Nick Leddy sped past Charlie Coyle to shoot and Jaroslav Halak couldn't control the rebound. The Islanders rallied for a 4-3 win over the Bruins on Thursday night before a crowd of 2,191 at TD Garden.
The Islanders (22-8-4) won their third straight and maintained a two-point lead over the second-place Capitals in the East Division.
The Bruins spent the past week dealing with COVID-19 issues and had not played since a 4-1 win in Buffalo on March 18. Their game in Buffalo on Saturday and Tuesday night’s game against the Islanders were both postponed and the Bruins did not resume practicing until Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Jake DeBrusk and Sean Kuraly remained on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list on Thursday.
Then, Bruins starting goalie Tuukka Rask, playing his first game since appearing to tweak his back on March 7, exited with an upper-body injury after stopping all six shots he faced in the first period.
Ex-Islander Halak, in net for a 7-2 loss on Feb. 25 in which he allowed five third-period goals and a 2-1 shootout defeat on March 9, took over and made 23 saves. Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots, keeping the game tied as he stopped Craig Smith at the crease at 16:12 of the third period after Smith skated around defenseman Scott Mayfield.
Rookie Oliver Wahlstrom, extending his point streak to five games (four goals, two assists) off Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s forechecking efforts, gave the Islanders a short-lived 3-2 lead at 17:04 of the third period. But Anders Bjork tied it 54 seconds later as he was left open in front of Varlamov.
Still, Varlamov’s play was enough to keep the Islanders close enough to rally. Josh Bailey, off Brock Nelson’s feed as he cut low into the right circle, had made it 2-2 at 4:33 of the third period.
The Islanders had won the first four games between the teams, all at Nassau Coliseum, all with Varlamov in net and with all four being tied entering the third period.
"It’s always a playoff game against them," Leddy said before the game. "They play a similar style to us. They’re hard to play against. They’ve got a lot of skill on their team as well."
The Islanders halved their deficit to 2-1 at 7:21 of the second period as Pageau, with his 100th career goal and fifth this season against the Bruins, finished a three-on-two rush with Leo Komarov and Mayfield coming out of the penalty box.
Mayfield was called for a double-minor high stick against Patrice Bergeron at 3:12
The Bruins were held to three shots during their four-minute power play and defensemen Andy Greene and Ryan Pulock plus Casey Cizikas all blocked shots.
Though the Bruins had been idle for a week and the Islanders opened their road trip with a 2-1 overtime victory in Philadelphia on Monday on Beauvillier’s wraparound winner, it was the Islanders who started sluggishly. Beauvillier has a three-game goal streak overall.
Neither team had a shot in the opening 6:44 but the Bruins took a 2-0 lead as Karson Kuhlman and defenseman Steven Kampfer each scored their first goal of the season.
Kuhlman floated a puck on net from the left wall at 11:42 that Varlamov, playing deep in his crease, never saw with Leddy and Coyle screening him. Kampfer’s power-play one-timer from the left circle knuckled past Varlmaov at 17:35, two seconds before Cizikas offensive-zone tripping penalty was set to expire.
