Bruins shut out Islanders, who fall back in Metropolitan

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders fell into second place in the Metropolitan Division when they lost at home to the Boston Bruins for the eighth straight time, 5-0 at Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday.

Sean Kuraly scored two goals, and Tuukka Rask got his fourth shutout for Boston (44-20-9), which outshot New York 39-13.
The Bruins moved six points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division. Toronto lost 3-0 at the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
WATCH: [All Bruins vs. Islanders highlights]
"Thirteen shots, I don't know if they had five scoring chances," Rask said. "Great game. [I'm] impressed."
New York (42-24-7) is two points behind the Washington Capitals, who won 4-1 at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
"We just couldn't get going," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "You have to execute … When they're on top of you like that, you have to make real simple decisions and quick decisions. You can't make home run plays. I don't know how many times that we exited the zone and tried a cross-ice pass … their gaps were good. They were tracking. There wasn't any space."

Robin Lehner made 34 saves for the Islanders in his first game since sustaining an upper-body injury March 5.
"From all of us, it's not good enough," said Lehner, who allowed five goals in a game for the first time since Nov. 21 against the New York Rangers. "We've got to forget about this one, but it's nice to get back in."
Kuraly gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 1:12 of the first period on a soft wrist shot from the right face-off circle that beat Lehner to the near side. It was Kuraly's first goal in 23 games since Jan. 17.
Boston outshot New York 14-2 in the first period.
"That was probably one of our worst periods of the year in our building," Islanders forward Matt Martin said. "All in all, just a frustrating night from start to finish. It just wasn't our best."
Noel Acciari gave Boston a 2-0 lead at 2:52 of the second period when he put a wrist shot between Lehner's pads after a turnover in front of the net by Cal Clutterbuck.

Kuraly scored his second of the game and eighth of the season on a one-timer from the slot at 16:17 to make it 3-0.
"When you have six and you score two, it's another day at the office," Kuraly said. "I thought from the start all the way to the finish, we were pretty good. For a full 60 [minutes], that's up there with one of the best 60s we've played this year."
Patrice Bergeron's third goal in four games gave the Bruins a 4-0 lead at 6:32 of the third period.
Jake DeBrusk left the penalty box and scored on a breakaway at 10:20 for the 5-0 final.
"I think they're a different team this year than last year, so I think you have to compare this year's games differently," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said of the Bruins' success against the Islanders. "I thought the game tonight was a little more like previous years where we were able to play our game and eventually get them to break and kind of pull away."

They said it

"No game is easy in the NHL, that's for sure. There's always going to be some kind of chances against, but I think if you look at the overall team effort, how we played, I guess it qualifies as an easy game." -- Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask
"They came after us tonight in our building. They got the first one, we were fine. Obviously, it got away from us. We've just got to be ready to go from the get-go. They played a (Stanley Cup) Playoff-type game tonight; they were heavy, they were strong. We were making mistakes kind of from the start." -- Islanders captain Anders Lee

Need to know

New York has not defeated Boston at home since Nov. 2, 2013 (0-8-0), and has been outscored 35-13. The Islanders haven't defeated the Bruins since a 4-0 victory at Boston on Jan. 16, 2017 (0-6-1). … Bruins forward David Pastrnak (thumb) played his first game since Feb. 10. He had three shots and was plus-1 in 14:19. … Islanders center Valtteri Filppula left midway through the first period with an upper-body injury after being hit behind the Bruins net by defenseman Connor Clifton, and Clutterbuck did not play in the third period because of an upper-body injury. Trotz did not have an update on either after the game. … New York center Casey Cizikas returned after missing two games because of a lower-body injury. He had one shot and was minus-3 in 15:52.

What's next

Bruins: At the New Jersey Devils on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, SNE, SNO, SNP, MSG, NESN, NHL.TV)
Islanders:At the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, MSG+, NHL.TV)