BOSTON – Just when the New York Islanders showed some life with a late flurry, the Boston Bruins pushed them back and handed them yet another loss Thursday night.
Milan Lucic scored two goals and Tuukka Rask made 33 saves to lift the Bruins to a 5-2 victory against the lowly Islanders.
Additional Photos
“I am taking advantage of my opportunities right now and it’s also nice to have a little luck,” Lucic said. “It’s a credit to my linemates. They’re finding me when I’m open.”
Lucic leads the team with 15 goals, easily topping last season’s total of nine.
Boston extended the Islanders’ futility to 1-15-3 in their past 19 games. New York, which has lost 11 straight road games, hasn’t won since beating New Jersey at home on Nov. 26.
The Islanders (5-16-5) are last in the NHL with 15 points.
“Finding a way to get up for these games is more challenging than you think, especially emotionally,” Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara said. “Give New York credit, though. They played hard and battled back in the second.”
Rask won for only the second time this season (2-6-1).
Brad Marchand scored a short-handed goal with 5:20 remaining in the second period for a 2-1 lead. Michael Ryder scored one of the two power-play goals for Boston at 14:16 of the third period for a 3-1 lead before Rob Schremp narrowed the Bruins’ lead to 3-2 with 3:33 remaining.
Frans Nielsen had tied it 1-1 for the Islanders in the second period after he was awarded a penalty shot while New York was short-handed. He was tripped by Patrice Bergeron during a breakaway.
“Any time a team scores against us short-handed, it’s a real kick in the butt. We want to make sure we do the same to them,” Marchand said.
Lucic and Bergeron added empty-net goals in the final 1:03 to cap the scoring.
Marchand put the Bruins ahead 2-1 when he blocked a clearing attempt by Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro, who was well out of the crease, and slid the puck into an open net.
“We really battled hard and competed hard,” New York’s second-year forward John Tavares said. “This game was a tough one to swallow.”
DiPietro made 32 saves for the Islanders, who were 0 of 3 on the power play. New York has failed in 39 straight advantages over 12 games.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.