Islanders defeat Bruins in shootout, extend point streak to nine

UNIONDALE, N.Y. --Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves, and the New York Islanders won their sixth straight game, 2-1 in the shootout against the Boston Bruins at Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday.

Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders (16-6-4), who have a nine-game point streak (8-0-1) and are the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss at home (11-0-2).
"I think every point matters," New York center Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. "At this point, every point is important. I don't think it matters which team we're playing against, we're always trying to win the match. Obviously, we're happy about these two points, but we can't be satisfied."
Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves, and David Pastrnak scored for the Bruins (13-6-4), who are 0-3-1 against the Islanders this season.
Jordan Eberle and Anthony Beauvillier scored in the shootout for New York. Pastrnak scored Boston's only goal in the first round before Varlamov made saves against Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand.
"I thought we were the better team. We didn't have much luck around the net," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I liked our team's effort from start to finish. It was a pretty tight third period. We've had issues with our third periods in here the last three times, so we played better. We didn't generate a lot, but we didn't give up a lot either. We kept ourselves in the game."

Pastrnak gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with a one-timer near the right point on the power play at 19:32 of the first period.
Varlamov prevented Boston from extending the lead when he lunged across his crease and made a stick save against David Krejci, who had an open net on a Bruins power play at 10:09 of the second period.
"That was a big save in the right moment," Varlamov said. "A key save, I would say. … I was kind of like out of position and the puck bounced back like right on his stick. The net was like wide open, so the guy's shooting at an empty net. I had a chance to stop it with my stick. Kind of a lucky play, but it hit my stick."
Nelson scored for a third straight game to tie it 1-1 at 16:18 of the second period when he one-timed a pass from Pageau for a power-play goal. He then had an opportunity to give New York the lead with 4:17 left in the third period, but Halak made a glove save on his wrist shot from the left circle.

The Islanders outshot the Bruins 9-4 in the third after allowing 24 shots through the first two periods.
"Every time we match up against them, it seems to be pretty tight," New York defenseman Ryan Pulock said. "Obviously, our last game (a 7-2 win on Feb. 25) we separated ourselves a bit in the third. Every time, it's a tough game. They're hard, they're physical on their forecheck, we like to play that way too. It was tight all game, especially in the third. We like being in those games, those playoff-type games. We're comfortable there and that's how it's going to be down the stretch here."
Marchand nearly won it for the Bruins in overtime, but his shot from the left circle hit the post with 1:52 remaining.
"They played well, we just have to give them credit," Halak said. "We have to keep building our game. I thought we played pretty well tonight, just the result wasn't there."
NOTES:Islanders coach Barry Trotz became the third in NHL history to coach 1,700 games, joining Scotty Bowman (2,141) and Joel Quenneville of the Florida Panthers (1,730). Trotz is 861-624-155 with 60 ties. … Varlamov has won all four games against the Bruins this season, allowing five goals. … New York, which won for the first time in a game that went past regulation (0-3 in overtime, 1-1 in the shootout), is 13-2-4 in its past 19 games. … Boston forward Jake DeBrusk was a healthy scratch. He has one goal in 17 games this season. … Islanders forward Leo Komarov had two hits in 10:03 of ice time in his first game since Feb. 28. He replaced forward Michael Dal Colle, who was a healthy scratch.