3 Takeaways: Islanders End Homestand with 4-1 Loss to Bruins

The New York Islanders put up a fight against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night at UBS Arena, but ultimately fell 4-1, ending their five-game homestand on a sour note with a record of 1-2-2.
"It's easy to say you can't get discouraged, but the frustration is high for sure," Brock Nelson said following the loss. "We have to create more opportunities."

Zach Parise scored for the Islanders in the first period with helpers from Sebastian Aho and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, but the mood shifted in the middle frame when the relentless Bruins began picking up steam. Charlie McAvoy, Derek Forbort, Brad Marchand (PPG) and Trent Frederic scored four unanswered goals over the final two periods.
The Islanders finished the homestand with eight total goals over the span of five games.
"We're a little snakebit right now," Head Coach Lane Lambert said after the loss. "We've had at least five games [at home] and we've had plenty and ample opportunity."
Semyon Varlamov made his first start since Jan. 6, making 20 saves in the loss. Linus Ullmark stopped 26 of 27 for his 100th career win.

ANOTHER GOOD START SLIPS AWAY:

After a series of slow starts cost the Islanders on their western road swing, they'd reversed that trend during their five-game homestand. Entering Wednesday night, the Islanders had outscored opponents 6-1 in the first period, before taking a first period lead.
Sebastian Aho entered the zone and curled towards the wall before feeding a streaking Zach Parise, who stepped into a hard slapshot from the top of the circle that beat Linus Ullmark to open the scoring at 15:41 of the first, also marking the Islanders' lone goal of the game.
After outshooting Boston 10-6 in the opening frame, the Bruins outshot the Islanders 18-17 over the final 40 minutes.
BRUINS 4, ISLANDERS 1
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Parise's 13th
The game began to turn with Charlie McAvoy's one-timer in the middle of the second frame, as the Bruins followed up with David Krejci's eventual game winner, which hit off the crossbar and off Varlamov's back and into the net to carry a 2-1 advantage into the third period.
The Bruins lethal third period continued to dominate, with Marchand and Frederic tacking on two goals to their league-leading 66 goals scored in the third frame. Boston is still yet to lose when leading after two periods, improving their record to 24-0-1 in that area.

SPECIAL TEAMS FALTER FOR NEW YORK:

Special teams were not friendly to the Islanders on Wednesday night, as their power play going 0-for-6, while generating seven shots.
"[The power play] has lost us some games recently," Mathew Barzal said after the loss. "It killed us tonight. It has to be better, that's the bottom line."
The best power play chance of the night came in the third period, as Parise's deflection through Ullmark, but ultimately did not find the back of the net. The Islanders completed their five-game homestand going 1-for-15 on the power play.
The Islanders 10-game home penalty killing streak ended with Brad Marchand's power-play goal to extend the Bruins lead to 3-1. Marchand finished off a tic-tac-toe play with Pastrnak and Coyle at 5:03. The Isles had previously killed off 22 consecutive penalties at home.

DUFOUR AND CHOLOWSKI DEBUT:

William Dufour and Dennis Cholowski were new additions to the Islanders lineup on Wednesday, as both players were recalled from Bridgeport in the morning, making their Islanders debuts against the Bruins.
Dufour started on the top line tonight alongside Josh Bailey and Barzal for his NHL debut. The 20-year-old recorded one hit in 6:48 TOI, but he didn't see the ice after the Bruins second goal midway through the game.
"He will continue to learn and grow from that," Lambert said of Dufour's debut. "In his development, he'll be fine."
Cholowski recorded a total of six attempted shots (five blocked, one missed) on 13:58 TOI, including 3:26 of power play time.
"I thought he moved the puck pretty well and I thought he skated well," Lambert said of Cholowski's performance. "He made some good plays and he did what we brought him in and asked him to do."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders complete the second half of a back-to-back set with a matchup against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. Puck drop is at 7:30pm.