5 Takeaways: Islanders Wrap Regular Season with 3-2 OT Loss to Bruins

Bring on the playoffs.
The New York Islanders ended their 56-game regular season with a 3-2 OT loss to the Boston Bruins on Monday night, cementing a First-Round matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Oliver Wahlstrom and Mathew Barzal scored for the Islanders, who needed a regulation win to have a chance at finishing third and drawing the Washington Capitals in round one. A two-goal night by Taylor Hall, including the OT winner, and a tally from Brad Marchand powered the Bruins to the win and a third place finish in the East Division.

With the overtime loss, the Islanders finish the abbreviated season 32-17-7 with 71 points. Mathew Barzal led the team with 45 points (17G, 28A), Brock Nelson lead the team with 18 goals and Nick Leddy led the team with 29 assists.
Here are five takeaways from a playoff-style game to end the season.

ISLES FINISH FOURTH IN EAST, DRAW PENGUINS IN FIRST ROUND:

With an overtime loss on Monday, the Islanders (71 points) are guaranteed to finish fourth in the East Division, drawing a First Round matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Islanders needed a regulation win to leapfrog the Bruins into third, but would have also needed a Bruins regulation loss on Tuesday vs Washington. With Monday's game tied 2-2, Trotz pulled his goaltender to give his team a shot at third, but to no avail. Knowing their fate was sealed going into OT likely took some of the sting out of Hall's rush down the wing and backhander for the winner.
"It's good to know who we're playing now," Ryan Pulock said. "We'll have a couple of days to start preparing and get our minds into it. It's an exciting time of the year starting now. Guys are going to be excited to get it going."
This marks the second time in three seasons the Islanders and Penguins will meet in the playoffs. The Isles swept the Pens in 2019. This season, the Islanders went 2-4-2 against Pittsburgh.
"Every matchup was going to be hard in this division," Leddy said. "But you look at their year, they've been playing excellent, especially in the back half of the year, they've been firing on all cylinders. I think it will be an awesome challenge. It's the best time of the year. Looking forward to it."
A First Round schedule will be released later this week.

ISLES FIGHT TO THE FINISH IN PLAYOFF-STYLE GAME:

Monday's regular season finale was no cakewalk, as the Islanders and Bruins engaged in a physical and heated, playoff-style game before the real thing this weekend.
Boston outshot the Islanders 18-4 in the first period, a shot total that was skewed by three Bruins' power plays in the opening frame. Hall opened the scoring at 19:21, seven seconds into a Boston five-on-three (the Islanders first five-on-three allowed this season), but the Islanders notched the game shortly after.
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Wahlstrom's PPG
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After entering the second period four-on-four, the Islanders generated a brief four-on-three man advantage, where Wahlstrom had plenty of space to blast a one-timer by Tuukka Rask at 1:38.
The Bruins took a 2-1 at 6:15, as Brad Marchand got inside position in front of the net and finished off some pretty passing from David Pastrnak and David Krecji. Again, the Islanders hung around and managed to tie the score shortly after.
Rask couldn't handle a Pulock clapper and after retraining and regrouping, Pulock eventually found Barzal curling into the slot, where the center beat the Bruins goalie top shelf at 8:31.
Boston outshot the Isles 9-5 in a scoreless third period and one that featured a lot of extracurriculars after the whistle. The Islanders outhit the Bruins 41-25 in what was a heavy contest, which several players said was a good ramp up for playoffs.
"The last few teams we played, we had Buffalo and then New Jersey, they were out of the playoffs. The physicality wasn't there," Barzal said. "So, tonight to get a game like that, a game that was heavy all game - I thought we were heavy too - it was nice to get that feeling back. That competitiveness, a little bit of that hunger, a little bit of that fire. I think it was good for us."

VARLAMOV LEAVES GAME FOR PRECAUTIONARY REASONS:

Semyon Varlamov left Monday's game for a precautionary reasons after the second period on Monday night, forcing Ilya Sorokin to play the third.
Trotz said his goalie could have finished in a playoff scenario, but he didn't want to risk anything with health being top priority. Varlamov stopped 25-of-27 shots before exiting the game. Cory Schneider backed up Sorokin in the third period to ensure Varlamov wouldn't return.
Sorokin stopped 10-of-11, but had to be especially sharp off the hop, as Boston started the period with a 9-0 shot advantage. The rookie netminder flashed the leather on Marchand as the Bruins leading goal scorer had a quality look off the rush.
With Varlamov's season wrapped, the Isles netminder set the team's single-season GAA record (2.05) and tied the team's single-season shutout record (7).

BARZAL STAYS HOT GOING INTO PLAYOFFS:

Barzal picked up two points in Monday's game, dishing the primary helper on Wahlstom's power-play goal and scoring his 17th goal of the season to tie the score 2-2.
That marks back-to-back, two-point games for the Islanders leading scorer, who is heading into the playoffs with goals in four of his last six games heading into the postseason.
"It's nice to get on the board and put a couple in the back of the net, that's always good for the confidence," Barzal said. "I thought tonight especially, I found my game competitively and so did our team. It was a good game to get us prepped for playoffs. It felt like a playoff game out there."

Video: NYI@BOS: Wahlstrom cranks a one-timer from the circle

LINEUP CHANGES:

Cal Clutterbuck returned to the lineup after sitting out Saturday's game, while Matt Martin was out resting a nagging issue. Ross Johnston skated in Martin's place, while Travis Zajac came out of the lineup. Clutterbuck threw a game-high seven hits in 10:51 TOI, while Johnston threw three hits in 9:04 TOI.
Trotz said a mystery player, which turned out to be Martin, was sitting as a precaution, but that Monday's lineup was indicative of his Game 1 group.

NEXT GAME:

Game 1. In Pittsburgh. As for when, stay tuned.