DeBrusk gets 3 points, Bruins top Islanders in shootout

BOSTON -- Jake DeBrusk had two goals and an assist for the Boston Bruins in a 4-3 shootout win against the New York Islanders at TD Garden on Tuesday.

"We knew what we were getting into tonight," said DeBrusk, who also scored in the shootout. "I think they're missing a couple guys as well, but it's one of those things where it doesn't change their game no matter who's in their lineup. You know it's going to be a hard game. You have to earn your chances, or get lucky on a few, but we knew that they weren't going to stop coming."
Pavel Zacha had two assists, and Linus Ullmark made 23 saves for Boston (23-4-1), which returned home following a three-game west coast road trip.
"I think [the second period] is where we got our legs because we're used to west coast time," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "Our bodies are on Mountain time today, so you know, it's an incredible effort. It's such a gutsy effort by that group in there."

Noah Dobson and Josh Bailey each had a goal and an assist, and Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves for New York (17-12-1), which has lost five of seven (2-4-1). Brock Nelson had two assists.
"We found ourselves down two, (the first a) deflection on the power play, and then we did all the right things on the second goal, it went off us and in," Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. "For us to climb back, and obviously going into the third being down, coming away with a point, there's a good job by our guys."
DeBrusk gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 6:48 of the first period, redirecting David Pastrnak's shot five-hole on the power play. He then scored 19 seconds later to make it 2-0 when his centering pass to Derek Forbort deflected in off Bailey's stick.
"[Montgomery] doesn't like when we're too stagnant at the blueline," Forbort said. "He wants us kind of jumping down and helping to keep pucks alive and being part of the offense, so it's been fun."
Bailey cut it to 2-1 at 11:00 of the first. Dobson's shot from the right point deflected first off Nick Foligno before redirecting in off Bailey's left skate at the edge of the crease.
Dobson then tied it 2-2 at 11:43 of the second period with a slap shot from the right point that went in off the left post.
"We had a good start. We ended up down two, it was unfortunate, but we weren't doing anything wrong," Dobson said. "We were playing well. [Lambert] just said, 'Keep going at our game,' and we get it back."

Forbort put the Bruins back in front 3-2 with a short-handed goal at 18:28 of the second. He received a pass from Zacha all alone in the low slot and shot just under the crossbar.
"In the penalty kill goal, it was our defenseman (Forbort) who joined the rush there," Zacha said. "And that helps you a lot, making out on 2-on-2's, 3-on-2's and odd-man rushes like that, so when they're open, I try to find them, and so far, they've been there every time, so it's been good."
Casey Cizikas tied it 3-3 at 4:40 of the third period when his wraparound deflected in off Forbort's skate.
"It's just [being] resilient," Cizikas said. "We've been in that position. We know what we have to do to succeed, and we did a good job. We kept getting pucks in deep, we kept getting in to the net, and eventually one went in."
Mathew Barzal and Sebastian Aho had a chance to give New York the lead late in the third, but they failed to connect on a pass on a 2-on-1 with less than one minute left. Ullmark then stopped Jean-Gabriel Pageau on a breakaway at 1:41 of overtime.
"I thought it was a really solid effort," Bailey said. "I thought everyone was engaged. [Varlamov] played great for us. When you get to a shootout, I touched it on before, it can be a bit of a coin flip, and today it didn't go our way there, but still a lot of good things."
NOTES:New York has scored 41 goals in the third period this season, which is tied with the Edmonton Oilers for second-most in the League. Boston has scored 42. … Boston is 15-0-1 at home this season. It is the third-longest home point streak to begin a season in its history, behind a 21-game streak in 1973-74, and a 17-game streak in 2019-20. … Ullmark is 17-1-0 in 20 games this season. He is the fifth goalie in NHL history to win at least 17 games in his first 20 games of a season, joining Tiny Thompson (18 with Boston in 1929-30), Andrew Hammond (17 with the Ottawa Senators in 2014-15), Evgeni Nabokov (17 with the San Jose Sharks in 2008-09), and Alec Connell (17 with Ottawa in 1925-26). … Pastrnak has seven points (five goals, two assists) during a six-game point streak.