The Bruins avoided a three-game season sweep at the hands of the lowly Islanders with a 6-3 win Monday at Nassau Coliseum. Brad Marchand stayed red hot with his third career four-point game (one goal, three assists); 10 of the 18 Bruins skaters recorded points including three points for Patrice Bergeron and two points for Reilly Smith. Chad Johnson made 34 saves as Boston (32-15-3) pushed ahead of Tampa Bay for first place in the Atlantic Division.
The teams traded goals until the Bruins wrapped it up with two goals in the third period. Loui Eriksson scored his first goal in 12 games to make it 1-0 in the first period. Frans Nielsen tied it for the Islanders (21-25-8) on a rebound. Marchand scored in the second period and Michael Grabner answered it. Smith then made it 3-2 and Kyle Okposo tied it on the ultra rare 2-on-0 following an ugly turnover by Dougie Hamilton. Carl Soderberg scored a highlight reel goal with 33 seconds left in the frame.
Bergeron’s goal gave Boston the first two-goal lead (5-3) of the game then Zdeno Chara’s wrist shot from the point eluded the immortal Kevin Poulin (30 saves) for his 500th career point. Evgeni Nabokov came on but it’s clear that the Islanders aren’t going anywhere with that dynamic duo in net.
The Bruins have found their game with four wins in their last five contests including 12 goals in the past two victories. Now they return home for three straight games including a possible reunion with Tim Thomas and the Panthers (21-24-7) Tuesday (7, NESN).
What they'll be saying: It's difficult to come up with a valid reason why Islanders forward Kyle Okposo isn’t on Team USA. He’s having a career year with 22 goals and 32 assists. With another three-point game Monday, he became the first Bruins opponent since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 to have a trio of three-point games vs. Boston. You better believe if any forward on Team USA gets hurt, he’ll be the first call.
The second line of Marchand, Bergeron and Smith is collectively on fire. They all are carrying six-game point streaks - Marchand (seven goals, two assists), Bergeron (three goals, six assists) and Smith (one goal, five assists) - after Monday's monster performance. For much of last season, the second line carried Boston. This season, it has been more balanced between the first and second lines with Marchand and Smith now tied for the team lead in goals (17).
Bruins head coach Claude Julien said in the afternoon that Ryan Spooner was fine but then he was scratched for the second game in a row with an illness. With Chris Kelly likely returning Tuesday vs. Florida, Spooner will probably stay out of the lineup with Jordan Caron rejoining him in the press box.
Very quietly, Johnson improved to 9-3-0 with his third straight win. He’ll never be Boston’s top goaltender (assuming Tuukka Rask is healthy) but his play over the last few weeks has likely given Boston’s front office and Julien much more faith in him. Now they can focus on other areas to improve the team at the trade deadline on March 5.
Follow Metro Boston Bruins beat writer Richard Slate on Twitter: @RichSlate
