UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Semyon Varlamov made save after save after save as the Bruins kept getting more dominant as the second period progressed into the third.
And the crowd at Nassau Coliseum, up to a season-high 12,000 on Thursday night, got increasingly louder as it willed the Islanders to score the equalizer.
They did. But Tuukka Rask upstaged Varlamov in overtime as the Bruins won Game 3, 2-1, to take a 2-1 series lead.
Brad Marchand scored the winner at 3:36 of overtime, snapping a shot from the left over Varlamov’s glove. That made Varlamov the hard-luck loser after he stopped 39 shots, just as he did in the Islanders’ 4-3 overtime win in Monday night’s Game 2 in Boston.
But Marchand only had that chance after Rask (28 saves) denied Jordan Eberle from the high slot and then Mathew Barzal on the rebound chance at the crease at 2:08 of overtime.
That would have been a fitting ending for Barzal, who tied the game at 1 at 14:34 of a third period that saw the Bruins hold a 21-9 shot advantage. Barzal came around to the left post and stuffed in his second attempt past Rask for his first goal of the playoffs.
Game 4 is Saturday night at the Coliseum and it is pretty close to a must-win for the Islanders before the series shifts back to TD Garden for Game 5.
Capacity was expanded from the 9,000 for the Islanders’ series-clinching Game 6 win over the Penguins by reducing the number of sections reserved for non-vaccinated fans to six. The larger crowd was roaring from the start of warmups.
"The Coliseum, it’s a special place because so many people have a connection to back in the glory days when they won four straight," Brock Nelson said of the Islanders’ Stanley Cup dynasty from 1980-83. "There’s lots of history. It’s a pretty unique building in the way it’s set up and where it is. Guys love playing here with a full rink."
"We know the energy that the rink brings and the fans bring and it’s a loud rink," defenseman Scott Mayfield said. "Boston, it was fun playing in front of a packed group."
TD Garden held a near-capacity 17,400 as the teams split the first two games.
The Bruins took an early 1-0 lead on their second shot. Craig Smith, returning to the lineup after missing Game 2 with a lower-body injury, beat Varlamov over his glove and under the crossbar from the high slot off Taylor Hall’s feed from the right wall at 5:52 of the first period.
Smith’s return to David Krejci’s second line with Hall returned Jake DeBrusk to Charlie Coyle’s third line.
"That second line is a little under the radar just because that first line is so focused on so much," said Mayfield, referring to Patrice Bergeron’s line with Marchand and David Pastrnak. "But adding Hall in that group brought that second line to a new level."
Anthony Beauvillier had a chance to tie it at 7:47 but Rask made a blocker save on his breakaway attempt. Bruins defenseman Mike Reilly hit the crossbar from the left wall at 13:40 after the Islanders did not generate a shot on net on their first power play.
Both goalies then made key saves through a chippy and well-played second period.
Rask turned aside Beauvillier’s power-play chance from just above the crease at 9:45 and Varlamov used his blocker to turn aside Krejci’s shot from the right at 10:50. At 14:42, Varlamov showed good anticipation as he slid to his right to deny Krejci’s one-timer on an open look. He also stoned Nick Ritchie from the doorstep at 17:02.
Rask also shrugged off Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s hard shot at 16:10. Barzal barely missed tying the game at 12:05 as he skated around defenseman Charlie McAvoy of Long Beach and shot just wide as he tried to stuff the puck inside the right post.
Beauvillier also couldn’t convert a breakaway backhander at 16:45 of the third period. He was also denied in tight with seven seconds left in regulation after the Islanders managed just one shot with Sean Kuraly off for an offensive-zone cross check on Kyle Palmieri at 17:45.
