Marchand, Hall power Bruins past Islanders

BOSTON --Brad Marchand and Taylor Hall each had a goal and two assists for the Boston Bruins in a 6-3 win against the New York Islanders at TD Garden on Saturday.

David Pastrnak and Erik Haula each had a goal and an assist for Boston (41-19-5), which won its fourth straight game and is 14-2-1 in its past 17. Linus Ullmark made 24 saves.
"Well, there was a lot to like," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We had our skating legs. I liked that our power play (1-for-3) was a lot more effective than the last couple of days. I think there's different lines that contributed. I think all four lines were trying to play the right way and get some offense going to their strengths."

Anders Lee had a goal and an assist for New York (28-26-9), and Semyon Varlamov made 38 saves.
"They're a good hockey team," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "That's a four-line deep, six-[defensemen] deep team. They're legit. In the first period, we survived. We got a big goal at the end of the period, and then their two quick goals (in the second period) sort of took away from us. We never really stabilized after that."
Craig Smith gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 4:03 of the first period. Brandon Carlo's one-timer from the high slot went wide, and Smith scored on the rebound to the right of the crease.
Hall made it 2-0 with 34 seconds left on the power play, redirecting Charlie McAvoy's wrist shot from the point.
"[The net-front role on the power play] is something that I've grown as the season has gone on," Hall said. "It's not something that's natural to me, playing in front of the net there, but I'm starting to figure it out and getting more chemistry with those guys."
Brock Nelson got New York within 2-1 with 12 seconds left, scoring on a rebound after Zdeno Chara's slap shot from the point hit the crossbar. It was his 30th goal of the season.
"It's tough for sure. In the first period, I thought we played fairly well and had some chances," Nelson said. "Getting that one at the end to cut into the two-goal lead was huge. We weren't able to come out and roll with that to tie it up. A couple plays, a couple bounces go their way, and they were able to pull away with it."

Pastrnak gave Boston a 3-1 lead at 2:13 of the second period, scoring on a rebound, and Marchand made it 4-1 1:43 later with a wrist shot from the slot.
Patrice Bergeron had an assist on Marchand's goal after missing four games because of an elbow injury.
"I think everyone is playing the right way and communicating," Bergeron said. "I've said it a few times, but I can see the growth in our team, the way that we're playing. Guys owning roles and playing the right way, doing it for the right reasons, obviously to win and help the team. It's great to see."
Lee cut it to 4-2 with a power-play goal at 5:12, putting in a rebound in front of the crease.
"I think it was a pretty solid hockey game for most of the start, even halfway through," Lee said. "They had some good pressure and made some good plays, got a couple bounces, and I think it just did get away from us a little bit. Against a good team like that it's tough to cover two or three goals."
Haula made it 5-2 at 14:33, and Jake DeBrusk scored at 18:18 to give the Bruins a 6-2 lead.
Zach Parise scored to make it 6-3 with a power-play goal at 14:43 of the third period.
NOTES: Bergeron played his 1,200th NHL game, joining Ray Bourque (1,518) and Johnny Bucyk (1,436) as the only players to do so with the Bruins. Chara played 911 games as Bergeron's teammate in Boston. … Nelson, 30, became the second Islanders player to have his first 30-goal season at age 30 or older (Jason Blake, 33 years old; 40 goals in 2006-07). … Bruins forward Nick Foligno left the game with an injury after a fight with Islanders forward Matt Martin at 13:10 of the third. There was no update on his status.