UNIONDALE, NY – Here are five thoughts from the first period with the Bruins and New York Islanders locked in a 1-1 tie after the first 20 minutes of action at the Nassau Coliseum.
1) Rare bad defensive shift for Patrice Bergeron the New York Islanders goal. Lost the face-off and then was beaten down the ice by center Casey Cizikas on a race to the net where he finished off a centering pass from Josh Bailey. You almost never see Bergeron lose a face-off and then compound that mistake by getting beaten down the ice on the back-check. It was one of only two face-off losses in eight tries for the Bruins pivot.
2) First goal of the season for Adam McQuaid on a good shift by the Seguin/Bergeron line. Tyler Seguin scooted around the offensive zone with the puck on a curl and drag move while fighting off defenders before finding McQuaid wide open on the right point. McQuaid was wide open and his shot managed to trickle through Evgeni Nabokov’s pads as Brad Marchand was battling to get to the rebound on the side of the net.
3) Nine hits for the Bruins in the first period as they seemed to make it a point to take the body against an undersized New York Islanders defensemen corps. Milan Lucic punctuated that part of the game plan by wallpapering D-man Andrew MacDonald on the first shift of the game. The Bruins were the better team in the first half of the first period, and the Isles owned the second half of the first period.
4) Pretty good period for Tuukka Rask with 10 saves in the first 20 minutes. He might have dropped a little early on the goal-scoring play for the Isles, but he also saved Boston a goal when Michael Grabner sped through the Bruins defense for a breakaway chance. Rask managed to get his paddle on the shot and knock it away.
5) Three hits for Matt Martin as he tried to get into a shoving match with Zdeno Chara. Watch that one going forward as Martin looked like he was trying to start things up for his team.
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Here are five thoughts from the second period with the Bruins leading the New York Islanders by a 3-1 score after the 40 minutes of action at the Nassau Coliseum.
1) Nice rebound performance in the second period for Patrice Bergeron after his lax defense helped lead to New York’s only goal. Bergeron won a puck battle during an early offensive possession in the second period that ended up leading to Brad Marchand’s rebound score in front. He’s won 11-of-16 face-offs and has a pair of assists while effectively erasing one of the few noticeable mistakes you’ll see from No. 37 this season.
2) Who said the Bruins aren’t getting power plays? They’ve had four power play chances tonight including only their second 5-on-3 advantage of the season. Unfortunately they haven’t been able to capitalize with six shots on net despite a couple of close opportunities created by point shots from Chris Bourque and Dougie Hamilton. The Bruins now have as many power plays tonight as they did during the entire rest of the five game road trip.
3) How much fun is Mark Streit on the power play? The New York Islanders defenseman nearly helped put the Isles on the board with a second goal in the second period on a one-man rush to the net and a point shot that nearly turned into a Matt Moulson rebound effort. Streit will be a free agent after the season is over and he’s going to command top dollar from teams looking to improve their power play.
4) Brad Marchand has 10 goals this season. It’s not a fluke and it’s not a couple of good bounces. He’s legitimately turning into an offensive force for the Black and Gold. In true Nose Face Killah fashion Marchand went to the front of the net and snapped home the rebound of an Andrew Ference shot while Tyler Seguin was buzzing around as well.
5) Four shots on net for Dougie Hamilton in 11:31 of ice time and he’s put in some pretty good battles in the defensive end as well. Good all-around work from the 19-year-old rookie through two periods.
6) Minus-2 each for Tavares, Moulson and Boyes tonight. Zdeno Chara doing a good job of neutralizing the Isles main scoring force.
