Korpisalo, Bruins rally past Islanders with 5 straight goals

BOSTON -- Joonas Korpisalo made 33 saves for the Boston Bruins, who erased an early two-goal deficit by scoring five unanswered goals for a 5-2 win against the New York Islanders at TD Garden on Tuesday.

David Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm and Michael Eyssimont each had a goal and an assist, and Morgan Geekie scored his sixth goal in five games for the Bruins (5-7-0), who had lost seven of eight, including 7-2 at the Ottawa Senators on Monday. Charlie McAvoy had two assists.

“Those (losses) are tough to swallow, but I was looking forward to today because I knew these guys were going to respond. I knew it,” Boston coach Marco Sturm said. “We were all disappointed (Monday) night. Not just me, but my players, too, and I could tell before the game these guys were ready to go. Even after we were down 2-0 the energy was still the same, so that was a good sign.”

Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist for the Islanders (4-4-1), who have lost the first two games (0-1-1) of a four-game road trip after winning their previous four. Ilya Sorokin made 17 saves.

“Fantastic,” Horvat said of Korpisalo. “You’ve got to give it to him, he made some unbelievable saves at big times in the game for them. We outshot them tonight and for the majority of the game we outplayed them, but he stood on his head tonight.”

Elias Lindholm cut the lead to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 3:57 of the second period. He received a pass from Pavel Zacha, who was along the goal line, and scored five-hole with a quick one-timer from the right circle.

Pastrnak tied it 2-2 at 6:49. Hampus Lindholm faked a shot from above the left circle and passed across to Pastrnak, who scored five-hole again from the bottom of the right circle.

Hampus Lindholm, who was activated off injured reserve on Tuesday, was making his return after missing five games with an undisclosed injury.

“I’ve loved this game since I was a kid, so being out there and playing, and I love the guys in this room, this organization, the staff and especially the fans," Lindholm said. "Being out there in front of all the Bruins fans is an amazing feeling. I can’t really explain it, but I hope to play a lot more games and stay in the lineup the rest of the year."

Sturm said Lindholm’s presence in the lineup made a big difference on the team.

“He was outstanding,” Sturm said. “He gave us exactly what we needed. He calmed everything down, made plays, good reads, and helped his partner (Andrew Peeke) a lot. [Peeke] feels really comfortable playing with Lindholm, who is a presence out there we really missed. It’s nice to see him back and hopefully he’ll be fine. He’s definitely a guy we need in our lineup.”

Eyssimont gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead at 7:48. He got inside position on Jean-Gabriel Pageau at the back post, where he redirected McAvoy's centering feed past Sorokin's left pad.

The Islanders had a chance to tie it late in the second period, but they failed to score on a four-minute power play after Hampus Lindholm was assessed a double minor for high-sticking at 17:09.

Shortly after that expired, the Islanders again failed to convert on a power play after Pastrnak was given a minor for holding at 2:23 of the third period.

"Korpisalo made some really good saves tonight, but for the most part we did a pretty good job of getting pucks towards the net," Horvat said. "But it couldn’t find its way in, and that’s the way it goes sometimes. We’ve just got to bear down.”

Geekie extended Boston's lead to 4-2 by scoring his own power-play goal at 5:48 of the third. The goal, a one-timer from above the left circle, was his eighth of the season.

Boston went 2-for-4 on the power play. New York was 0-for-5.

“Special teams were great today,” Korpisalo said. “The [penalty kill] was phenomenal. Everything [New York] had was from outside, and that’s what you need in a game.”

Fraser Minten scored into an empty net at 16:37 for the 5-2 final.

Horvat gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 1:08 of the first period. He received a drop pass from Jonathan Drouin on a 3-on-2 rush and beat Korpisalo blocker side from the top of the right circle.

Kyle Palmieri made it 2-0 during a delayed penalty at 4:52. He took a cross-ice pass from Mathew Barzall and scored into an open net after Korpisalo couldn't track the puck.

"I see it as a learning process, obviously," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said of blowing a two-goal lead. "I'm not saying we change our game, but the two penalties at the start of the second gave them some life and some momentum, especially when they scored that power-play goal. And then after that we had our chances ... but I think if you want to win on the road, you can't take those penalties."

NOTES: Bruins defenseman Jonathan Aspirot played 14:41 in his NHL debut. He replaced Mason Lohrei, who was a healthy scratch. "We expect more from [Lohrei], and sometimes you have to hit that reset button. It's not like we want to bury him. I want to help him and that's part of the process," Sturm said. "He's done some good things, but too many mistakes lately."