Bruins Mount Comeback Against Islanders: ‘Our Mindset Was There’

BOSTON –– David Pastrnak knew the team had more to give after the first period.

While the Boston Bruins trailed the New York Islanders 2-0 on Tuesday at TD Garden, there was a strong belief up and down the lineup that a comeback was brewing. The B’s were right, and five unanswered goals in the ensuing 40 minutes earned them a 5-2 victory.

“You could feel the energy in the room after the first that we know we can still win this game,” Pastrnak said. “The positivity after the first period was great. Not a surprise that we came up with the win because our mindset was there, and focus today.”

Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri put the Islanders up 2-0 in the first, but the Bruins came charging into the middle frame and snatched the lead by the third with three goals in under four minutes.​

Elias Lindholm started things off with his fourth power-play goal of the season, which is a team-high. Pavel Zacha pushed the puck up to Lindholm in the right circle, where he one-timed it past Ilya Sorokin to make it 2-1 at 3:57.

Pastrnak soon found the 2-2 equalizer. Hampus Lindholm faked a shot and instead dished it over to Pastrnak, who wired it home at 6:49 for his sixth goal of the year. Lindholm’s assist on the play marked his first point of the season. The defenseman returned to the lineup on Tuesday after missing five games with a lower-body injury.

“I am looking ahead. Body feels good and big win for the boys tonight,” Lindholm said. “I think we showed we can score goals in this league. That hasn’t been the problem. I think it’s keeping the puck out of the net. Tonight, we did a way better job protecting the house.”​

Lindholm finished the game with one point, one shot and two blocks through 19:03 of ice time while skating on the second pair with Andrew Peeke.

“I wanted to hug him after the game, I can tell you that,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “He was outstanding. He calmed everything down, made some good plays, good reads, he helped his partner a lot.”​

The Bruins pulled ahead at 7:48 thanks to a tap-in tally from Mikey Eyssimont. Charlie McAvoy unleashed a shot from down low that Eyssimont redirected in to earn the 3-2 advantage.

Morgan Geekie then extended the Bruins’ lead while on the power play in the third period. McAvoy picked up his second assist of the night, sending the puck over to Geekie to blast from above the left circle for the 4-2 scoreline at 5:48. It extended Geekie’s point streak to five games, during which he has scored six times. The forward tops the team with eight total goals.

“I keep telling him, keep reminding him, he has a heck of a shot and he has the goal-scorer instinct,” Pastrnak said of Geekie. “The shot that he has is amazing, it’s the best on our team. We just need to get him the opportunities and keep reminding him to shoot more.”

Fraser Minten’s empty-net goal with 3:23 on the clock sealed the 5-2 win, backstopped by 33 saves from Joonas Korpisalo.

Jonathan Aspirot made his NHL debut on Tuesday, too. The defenseman signed a one-year deal with the Bruins in July and had three points (one goal, two assists) in five games with Providence before getting called up on Sunday. He was on the third pair with Henri Jokiharju against the Islanders.

“Probably one of the best days of my life,” Aspirot said. “I think my brain was going 1,000 miles an hour. Just trying to enjoy the moment. It was great.”​

The Bruins are back at TD Garden on Thursday for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Buffalo Sabres.