5 Takeaways: Islanders Even Series With 4-1 Win

Series tied.
The New York Islanders came from behind to claim a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins in Game 4 on Saturday night to even their second round series 2-2.
Mathew Barzal (1G, 1A) scored the game winner late in the third period as the roof of Nassau Coliseum nearly blew off. Kyle Palmieri put the Islanders on the board in the second period while Casey Cizikas and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored empty-net goals. Semyon Varlamov turned aside 28 of 29 shots in the win.
It was a resilient and solid effort from the Islanders after going down 1-0 in the second period on David Krejci's power-play goal. Tuukka Rask made 30 saves on 32 shots in the loss.

"[It was] the biggest game for us so far," Barzal said. "If we had gone down 3-1 heading back to TD Garden [for Game 5], that's a death sentence. That was a huge game for us tonight. Everyone brought it. Everyone was involved somehow. Whether it was scoring, hitting, playing good defense, everyone was doing something positive. That's why we won."
Here are five takeaways from the Islanders' big Game 4 win:

ISLANDERS POUNCE IN THIRD PERIOD

After a scoreless, but chippy, first period, the Islanders faced tough circumstances as Boston took a 1-0 lead 3:57 into the second period. After the opening goal, the Islanders subsequently went on another penalty kill, but they evened the score, embraced the challenge and rose victorious. In doing so, they put themselves right back in this series.
Boston's icebreaker came on the power play, where Varlamov was crowded at the netfront, as Brad Marchand tried to jam in David Pastrnak's initial shot. With a rebound kicked out to the backdoor, Krejci roofed the loose puck past the chaos.
Trotz challenged the goal and upon review, the goal was confirmed and so the Islanders returned to the penalty kill.
Following a tremendous effort from the Islanders' PK, the Islanders evened the score 1-1 just 41 seconds later, as Jordan Eberle, who served the penalty, skated out of the box. From below the goal line, Barzal dished a pass to Palmieri for his equalizer.

"[Varlamov] couldn't move his leg and that's what we told the referee that if he has his stick there, he can't move his leg and that should be interference," Trotz said of the challenge. "We got it wrong, so I thanked all of the guys for an extended penalty kill, they did a great job and it gave us momentum after that, those are those challenges they try to make at the appropriate time and we were wrong unfortunately, but we ended up getting some momentum because of the great job by the penalty killers."
In the third period, after weathering a prominent push from Boston, who was hoping to extend their series lead 3-1, the Islanders stayed patient.
Scott Mayfield's initial point shot was redirected out to the left faceoff circle. Showcasing his stellar skill, Barzal timed the air-born puck and buried his shot past Rask to give the Islanders the 2-1 lead at 13:03.
"A little bit of luck, a little bit of hand-eye, everything was involved there," Barzal said of his goal. "The puck takes a weird skip and I don't think many people knew where it was. I was just trying to get to the net as quick as I could. I was fortunate that I don't think Tuukka could really see it, we had some good net presence."

With the lead, the Islanders locked down the game and kept Boston from taking a shot on goal for the final 6:18 of play. They'd go on to outshoot the Bruins 13-8 in the third period and 34-29 in the game.
Desperate to keep the game alive, Boston pulled Rask from their net in the final 1:30 to play. Cizikas made it a two-goal lead for the Islanders with his empty-net goal. In the final minute, the Bruins weren't defeated just yet and still pushed, but Pageau's empty-net goal with three seconds left put the Bruins' hopes to bed.

INTENSITY RISES

ISLES-BRUINS GAME 4
ISLANDERS ARTICLES
Gamecenter
Tensions Rising Between Isles and Bruins
NY Jets Return to Coliseum
Photo Gallery
ISLANDERS BRUINS VIDEO
Full Highlights
Palmieri Ties Score 1-1
Barzal Bats in Goal
Cizikas ENG
Pageau ENG
Postgame: Barzal and Palmieri
Postgame: Mayfield and Cizikas
Postgame: Trotz
KINGER'S CALLS
Palmieri Scores 5th
Barzal Bats in Goal
Cizikas ENG
Pageau ENG
It's no surprise frustrations would be high between the two heavyweight clubs. After all they play similar styles, forecheck fiercely, wear and tear on their opponents and according to Trotz, there hasn't been 'any easy ice' out there all series.
So, when two fights in the feisty first period broke out, it set the tone and the remainder of the game was hard-hitting, featured exchanges after almost every whistle blown and 57 hits were shared between teams (30 from the Islanders).
"Of course, some animosity is going to develop, but we're two teams that want to win," Palmieri said. "Our fans were into it. We just want to go out there and compete. Sometimes tempers flare like that. We're just going to continue to play our game."
Scott Mayfield and Taylor Hall ignited the feisty endeavors in the opening frame as they dropped the gloves at eight minutes into the period. The intensity continued to rise as Barzal took a high-sticking penalty at 9:23 and sparked a heavy-weight tilt between Matt Martin and Jarred Tinordi.
Barzal drew a penalty for the Islanders in the second frame as Krejci slashed him down low as a result of a battle for a stalled puck along the boards.

VARLAMOV SOLID IN WIN

Varlamov made his third-straight start in this series and earned his second win of the series with his 28-save performance.
While the Islanders did a solid job of keeping the Bruins out of the paint, Varlamov saw some of the most deadly looks of the game from Boston's 'Perfection Line' of Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak.
The Islanders were fortunate to not head into the first intermission down a goal as Pastrnak missed a wide-open net on his knee-drop one-timer from a Patrice Bergeron feed in the final minute of the period.
After being saved by his post, Varlamov came up with timely saves - including four saves on shorthanded chances from Boston's penalty kill to start the third period - despite not receiving a heavy workload.

PROMPT PRODUCTION FROM PALMIERI

With his game-tying goal in the second period to put the Islanders on the board, Palmieri overtook the goals lead among his team with his fifth of the postseason.
Despite a slow start upon joining the Islanders back in April - where he posted four points (2G, 2A) in 17 games - the Long Island-born winger has made his impact known in the playoffs where he's racked up seven points (5G, 2A) in 10 games.

ELECTRIC COLISEUM

Tweet from @NYIslanders: What. A. Crew. Big shoutout to the @NYJets for joining us at the Coli tonight! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/5f2RXwUvw2
As expected, the atmosphere at Nassau Coliseum didn't disappoint. With the win, the Islanders will for certain have at least one more game to rock the Coliseum with Game 6 on deck.
With perfect summer weather, the Islanders faithful tailgated all of Saturday afternoon in the parking lot before bringing the heat indoors. Even before the Islanders took the ice, the Coliseum was rocking.
"The atmosphere tonight was incredible," Palmieri said. "And it will continue to be like that for the rest of playoffs here."
During the game, the electric atmosphere erupted as chants of 'Let's Go Islanders' boomed.
The Islanders had a full audience with alumni like Steve Webb, Bobby Nystrom and Clark Gillies (who smashed a can on his forehead to excite the crowd) as well as longtime fan Ralph Macchio.
The Coliseum welcomed back players from the New York Jets, who returned for their second playoff game and ESPN Analyst-turned diehard Islander fan, Damien Woody and his family enjoyed the game. And even The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel lead actress Rachel Brosnahan was in the stands.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders head up to Boston for Game 5 on Monday night at TD Garden for the chance to take the series lead. Puck drop is scheduled at 6:30 p.m.