Khusnutdinov, Bruins rally past Islanders in shootout

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Marat Khusnutdinov scored the game-tying goal late in the third period before getting the only tally in the shootout for the Boston Bruins, who rallied for a 4-3 win against New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Tuesday.

Khusnutdinov tied it 3-3 at 15:06 by scoring from his knees. He jumped on the rebound of Fraser Minten's shot in the low slot and slid a backhand into the open net past the sprawling stick of Ilya Sorokin.

He then beat the Islanders goaltender blocker side in the second round of the shootout.

“I just went with a shoulder shake,” Khusnutdinov said. “I know Sorokin maybe tries to play the first move, first fake shot, so I just went with a shoulder shake and it was a good shot.”

Viktor Arvidsson and Pavel Zacha also scored for the Bruins (8-7-0), who have won four in a row, including a 5-2 victory against the Islanders on Oct. 28. Jeremy Swayman made 29 saves.

“It just shows the character in our room,” Boston coach Marco Sturm said. “I think overall we had a good feeling today, even after they scored. We made a few changes, but I think the bench was good. The guys were good. We had plenty of opportunities, but we also knew we were making more mistakes. We end up short and we made some mistakes, unfortunately, but I'm glad we came back and won the game in a shootout.”

Bo Horvat had two goals, and Anthony Duclair scored for the Islanders (6-5-2), who had won two in a row. Sorokin made 24 saves.

“I thought it was a pretty hard-fought game by both teams,” Horvat said. “Obviously, it's disappointing not to come out on the winning side of that. I thought we played pretty well for 60 minutes. Maybe the first 10 weren't our best, but after we got going we played pretty well. We had our chances and just got to find a way to get it done.”

Duclair gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 5:11 of the second period. Kyle MacLean won a face-off in the right circle over to Casey Cizikas, who tapped the rolling puck up to Duclair for a turnaround shot that beat Swayman blocker side through a screen.

Arvidsson tied the game 1-1 at 12:21. His stuff attempt at the left post was stopped by the pad of Sorokin, but the rebound deflected off the skate of Anders Lee into the net.

Horvat answered back just 45 seconds later to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead. Following a turnover in the neutral zone, Mathew Barzal skated in on a 2-on-1 rush and passed across to Horvat, who scored short side off the post from the left circle.

Zacha tied the game 2-2 on the power play at 17:29 of the second. He buried a rebound into an open net after Charlie McAvoy's initial shot caromed to him off Sorokin's outstretched left pad.

Horvat scored his second goal of the game at 5:05 of the third period to put the Islanders back in front 3-2. Fresh out of the penalty box, Matthew Schaefer took a stretch pass from Kyle Palmieri and immediately fed Horvat, who skated in stride over the blue line before beating Swayman glove side from the high slot.

“In the third, I thought that we had our chances to take a two-goal lead and either the goalie made a good save or we just missed the net on some,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “It was a hard-fought game, a game that could have gone either way, and I thought we played well enough to win.”

After Khusnutdinov tied the game again for Boston, Schaefer had a chance to win it in the waning seconds of regulation, but his rush attempt on the power play was denied in tight by Swayman.

“I love the intensity when the game gets like that,” Swayman said. “It’s just one shot at a time. You want to keep an even-keeled mindset, but it does make the game more enjoyable. Fans are getting into it, the boys are getting into it, and that's why we play this game, for intense moments and extreme competitiveness.”

NOTES: Horvat has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past five games. ... Zacha extended his point streak to four games (one goal, three assists). ... Schaefer has four points (three goals, one assist) in his past four games.