5 Takeaways: Islanders Rally For 4-3 OT Win vs Bruins

Anthony Beauvillier scored an OT winner for the second-straight game, as the New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Thursday night at TD Garden.
Beauvillier capped a thrilling game 21 seconds into the extra frame, tucking in a Nick Leddy rebound that initially handcuffed Jaroslav Halak. The goal was the finishing touch on a gutsy Islanders effort that saw them claw back after falling behind 2-0 in the first period.
"I thought we did a really good job tonight just staying with the process," Beauvillier said. "With coming from behind, I just thought it was a typical Islander win."

JG Pageau led the way with a three-point game (1G, 2A), while Beauvillier (1G, 1A) and Leddy (2A) each chipped in two points. With the win, the Islanders extended their current winning streak to three games and won their fifth-straight game against the Bruins in a single season for the first time in franchise history.
Here are five takeaways from a character win in Boston.

ISLES FALL BEHIND IN FIRST PERIOD:

Thursdays' game didn't start on a good note for the Islanders, who despite getting two days off before the game, had a slow start against a Bruins team that had been off since March 19.
Boston, playing in front of fans for the first time this year, opened the scoring at 11:42 of the first period, as Karson Kuhlman wrister off the half wall found its way through traffic and past Semyon Varlamov.
Boston scored from a similar spot to go up 2-0, as Steven Kampfer beat a screened Varlamov with a one-timer on the power play at 17:35. The Islanders had trouble clearing the front of the net and the puck out of the zone in the back half of the first period and were outshot 10-6.
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Pageau's Second-Period Tally
Bailey's Wrist Shot
Wahlstrom Roofs Backhander
Beauvillier's OT Winner
"Anytime you play a team coming out of COVID, you know they're engaged," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "They were going to come out hard, you were going to see either best early and we handled it okay, but were on the wrong side of the scoreboard."
But the Islanders stayed focused and caught a break at the start of the second, as Tuukka Rask left the game after the first, giving way to Halak.
"We dug ourselves a bit of a hole and then we talked about, 'Hey, just win the period,'" Trotz said of the Islanders mentality.

ISLES CHANGE GAME WITH FOUR-MINUTE PK:

The goalie switch may not have tipped the momentum, but a four-minute penalty kill from the Islanders certainly proved pivotal in the second period.
The Islanders shorthanded unit held the line for all four minutes with Scott Mayfield off for high-sticking Patrice Bergeron. It was a gutsy effort as the Islanders dodged a couple of bullets on some Bruins' misfires, but also sacrificed the body and were hard on pucks to clear the zone. Instead of falling into a 3-0 hole, the Islanders scored immediately after the penalty expired, as Mayfield left the box and created a three-on-two rush with Pageau and Leo Komarov. Komarov led the charge and while Mayfield misfired on the centering feed, the puck popped to Pageau who hammered home his 11th of the season past Halak.
"Our penalty killers did a great job of keeping us in the game," Trotz said. "I knew we were going to end up with a point tonight once we got that goal. If they get that third goal I don't know if we'd be sitting here tonight with any points."

The Islanders came alive off the kill-and-goal combo, generating some looks and zone time in the Bruins end.
They survived a few close calls towards the end of the second period, as Leddy stuffed an Anders Bjork wraparound try, while Mayfield blocked a backdoor play for David Pastrnak in front of a yawning cage.
Those plays proved to be big, as they allowed Josh Bailey to tie the score at 5:33 of the third period, as he received a Brock Nelson feed at the right dot and snapped one far side on Halak.
That led to another tied Islanders-Bruins tie game in the third period, setting up a back-and-forth finish. Oliver Wahlstrom put the Islanders ahead with 2:56 to play, posting up in front of the Bruins net and backhanding a Pageau feed high on Halak.
Bjork got it back for the Bruins under a minute later, coming in as a trailer and one-timing a Charlie Coyle feed past Varlamov at 17:58, sending the game to OT.
In OT, Beauvillier came up clutch for a second-straight game, and extended his goal streak to three-consecutive contests.
"We put ourselves in a little hole at the start. We all dug in. That's why we were able to come back," Pageau said. "A couple of big saves by [Varlamov] that gave us a boost, a goal and we believed that we could come back. That's a really good team effort. To grab two points is hard and we did."

WAHLSTROM EXTENDS POINT STREAK TO FIVE GAMES:

Oliver Wahlstrom extended his point streak to five games, as the rookie has six points (4G, 2A) over that span.
The goal was Wahlstrom's ninth of the season and he is tied with Nick Leddy with a team-leading 13th points since Feb. 25.
"He [Wahlstrom] just continues to grow," Bailey said. "He's played with a lot of confidence - he's earned that confidence with his play. Doing all the little things earlier in the year and then when the opportunities started to come, he just continued to get better and better. He's been a real solid player for us all season long, he's scored some big goals. You can't teach that shot."

PAGEAU STAYS HOT VS BRUINS:

Pageau's goal was his fifth in five games against the Bruins this season and his team-leading eighth point vs Boston. Pageau has points in each of the Isles-Bruins contests this season, including two shorthanded markers.
Pageau's goal was also the 100th tally of his career. His 11 goals this season are one back of Brock Nelson and Anders Lee for a share of the team lead.
"When that trade happened, right away you knew you were getting a quality person and one heck of a player," Bailey said of Pageau. "He just continues to show us, night in and night out, day in and day out, how important he is to our team and to our locker room."

Video: NYI@BOS: Bailey beats Halak with wicked wrister

VARLAMOV BACK IN NET:

Semyon Varlamov got the call for the Islanders after Ilya Sorokin started each of the past two contests. With Sorokin starting twice, plus Tuesday's game being postponed, Varlamov had a week between starts for the second time this season.
Trotz said he didn't think Varlamov was sharp off the hop, not picking up on either of the Bruins' first two tallies, but thought his goaltender settled in as the game wore on. Varlamov's best save came on a Craig Smith partial breakaway with four minutes to play in a 2-2 tie.
Varlamov stopped 29-of-32 shots in the win and as a result improved to 14-6-3 with a 2.20 GAA and a .923 SV% this season. Varlamov is also 5-0-0 with a 1.57 GAA and a .949 SV% vs the Bruins this season.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders head to Pittsburgh for two games against the Penguins starting on Saturday night at 7 p.m.