Hall scores again, Bruins shut out Islanders

BOSTON -- Taylor Hall scored for the second straight game, and Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves for the Boston Bruins in his first NHL shutout, a 3-0 victory against the New York Islanders at TD Garden on Friday.

"I think first and foremost the win was the most important part of tonight's game," said Swayman, who made his fifth NHL start. "The shutout was kind of the cherry on top. I was just super excited to get that accomplishment and I know I'll remember that one for a long time. But again, it couldn't have been done without the defense I had in front of me, and the players up front as well. So I'm super happy with that team effort."
David Pastrnak and Curtis Lazar scored for Boston (24-12-6), which has won three games in a row.
Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves for New York (27-13-4), which lost 4-1 here Thursday and is 1-3-0 in its past four.
The Bruins lead the New York Rangers by six points for fourth place in the eight-team MassMutual East Division. The Islanders trail the Washington Capitals by two points for first place. The top four teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"It's not coming real easy right now," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "We played a really good hockey team that's I'll say desperate because they know they've still some ground to make and now they've got some games in hand. They're right with the four teams (atop the division) right now.
"We've got to just take care of our own game, but there's a lot of positive things to take out of this game. We were way better this game than we were (Thursday). If we had played this game the other night, I think we might have won the hockey game."

Pastrnak scored his first goal in eight games with three seconds left in the first period to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
"I think I played pretty good the last couple games. … Obviously, the puck wouldn't go in for me," Pastrnak said. "But how I said, I think the last couple of games the chances were there. Obviously, it's frustrating sometimes when you don't score for many games, and especially when they were [going] in before. You know you're just going to stick with it, show up to the rink every single morning, work your butt off, and get ready for the next game."
Mike Reilly set up Pastrnak's goal for his second assist in three games with Boston. The defenseman was acquired in a trade from the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.

Hall made it 2-0 47 seconds into the second period when he tapped in a pass from David Krejci on a give-and-go. The forward has scored two goals in three games with the Bruins after scoring two in 37 with the Buffalo Sabres before being traded Monday.
"I think he's an elite player," Pastrnak said. "Obviously great to have him, and he's proving it the last couple games, he's been unbelievable."
Lazar scored into an empty net with 1:12 left for the 3-0 final. It was his first goal since being acquired in the Hall trade.
"I think we were pretty happy with our first [period]," Islanders defenseman Andy Greene said. "We gave up that late one, but we were still pretty really happy with it, to tell you the truth. And then … they always say the last minute, first minute of periods, the last minute or two or the first minute or two are mental swings. We didn't close it out in the first, and then obviously didn't open it up in the second the right way."
NOTES: New York forwards Josh Bailey and Cal Clutterbuck each missed the game with an undisclosed injury and is day to day. They were replaced in the lineup by Michael Dal Colle and Leo Komarov. … Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri played his 600th NHL game. … Swayman is the ninth rookie goalie to get a shutout in the NHL this season.