No shot for Isles
Only 13 saves needed in Bruin rout
The Bruins showed their depth and kept up their domination of the Islanders.
Sean Kuraly scored twice and Tuukka Rask earned his 45th career shutout as Boston beat the Islanders, 5-0, Tuesday night at Nassau Coliseum.
Noel Acciari, Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk also scored to help the Bruins win their second straight since a three-game skid that followed their 19-game point streak (15-0-4). Boston has won seven consecutive meetings between the teams — eight in a row in New York.
“From the start all the way to the finish, we were pretty good,” said Kuraly, who had just six goals coming in and ended a 23-game drought. “For a full 60 (minutes), that's up there with one of the best 60s we've played this year.”
Rask had to make only 13 saves for his fourth shutout this season, and first ever against the Islanders.
“I don't know if they had five scoring chances,” Rask said. “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.”
Robin Lehner, making his first start since he was injured March 5 late in the Isles' 5-4 shootout win at home against Ottawa, finished with 34 saves. The Islanders' 13 shots were their fewest of the season.
“They played a playoff-type game tonight,” Islander captain Anders Lee said. “They were heavy, they were strong. We were making mistakes from the start, fumbling here and there with the puck and they capitalized on those opportunities.”
David Pastrnak returned to the Bruins' lineup for first time since Feb. 10. He missed 16 games with a thumb injury sustained when he fell after a team dinner.
Boston dominated play from the start, scoring once in the first period and twice each in the sec- ond and third. The Bruins outshot the Islanders, 14-2, in the first, 10-6 in the second and 15-5 in the third.
“No matter what the score was tonight, we wanted to keep coming and keep playing hard,” Kuraly said. “It was nice to get rewarded early. Then we kind of rolled from there.”