Steeves Lifts Bruins to 3-1 Win Over Islanders 

ELMONT, N.Y. –– The Boston Bruins closed their four-game road trip with a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders on Wednesday at UBS Arena, fueled by a two-goal performance from Alex Steeves.​

“I’ve always kind of, as a player, told myself that if you are getting the chances, it is going to come,” Steeves said. “For me, I had the chances tonight, and they went in. Never going to stop trying to make goalscoring a part of my identity.” ​

The Islanders took a 1-0 lead at 4:41 of the first period with a goal from Mathew Barzal, but the Bruins tied the game less than two minutes later.

Steeves – who skated on the new fourth line with Sean Kuraly and Mikey Eyssimont – netted his second of the season to make it 1-1 at 6:23. The forward stationed himself in front of the Islanders’ net and knocked in the rebound of Kuraly’s initial shot from the right circle.​

Wednesday marked Steeves’ ninth game with the Bruins this season, which is the most time he has spent in the NHL in his career. The 25-year-old signed a one-year deal with Boston in July and was recalled from Providence earlier this month to help the B’s forward group through its injuries.​

“He did his job like he always does, and that’s why he has my trust,” head coach Marco Sturm said.

Tanner Jeannot earned the Bruins their first lead of the night to open the middle frame. Nikita Zadorov kept the puck in the offensive zone before the third line got to work down low, popping it out to Jeannot, who sniped it past Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin 43 seconds into the period for the 2-1 boost.

​“We came into the trip wanting to at least be .500 on it, and felt like we left some points in California in a couple of those games,” Jeannot said. “We knew we wanted to come out and play this game really hard, finish off the road trip and head back home for Thanksgiving. Boys battled hard tonight.”

It was Steeves, once again, who widened the gap for Boston. This time, though, it was a short-handed tally – the Bruins’ first of the year. On a 2-on-1 rush, Fraser Minten dragged the puck around a sliding Matthew Schaefer and over to Steeves, who one-timed it in at 10:21 for the final 3-1 standing.​

It was Steeves’ fourth NHL point, which is a career-high. It was also the first multi-goal game of his career.

“I’m not thinking I’m David Pastrnak or anything all of a sudden,” Steeves said. “But definitely gives me confidence and feels good to get rewarded on an individual level, but it feels even better to feel like I helped contribute to a really big win.”

Jeremy Swayman started in net for the third consecutive game and made a career-high 44 saves en route to the victory.

“Just one shot at a time. I was just blown away by the effort that I had in front of me all night. It was a motivator, for sure, just doing whatever I could to stop the puck,” Swayman said. “Really proud of this group today.”

The B’s return to TD Garden on Friday for a matinee matchup against the New York Rangers.