Islanders dispatch Bruins, reach Cup semifinals
Brock Nelson scored twice in another big second period by New York at home, Semyon Varlamov stopped 23 shots and the Islanders beat the Boston Bruins 6-2 in Game 6 on Wednesday night to advance to the Stanley Cup semifinals for the second straight year.
Kyle Palmieri, Trais Zajac, Cal Clutterbuck and Ryan Pulock also scored to help the Islanders set up a rematch with the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Josh Bailey and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each had two assists.
Brad Marchand scored twice for Boston, and Tuukka Rask made 23 saves.
With the Bruins on the
power play, Marchand got the puck in front of the net and put a backhander past Varlamov from the right side at 5:38 of the third to
cut Boston’s deficit to 4-2. It was Marchand’s fifth of the series and eighth of the postseason.
The Islanders’ stifling
defense limited the Bruins to just five shots on goal in the third. With the minutes winding down on Boston’s season, New York hemmed the Bruins in their end of the ice, preventing them from pulling Rask for an extra skater until 1:25 left.
Clutterbuck scored an empty-netter with 59 seconds left to seal it, and Pulock added another 11 seconds later. 5>> Mark Stone scored on a breakaway 50 seconds into overtime as the Vegas Golden Knights overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 late Tuesday night and take a 3-2 lead in their second-round series.
NORRIS TROPHY FINALISTS ANNOUNCED >> Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was named as a finalist for the 202021 James Norris Memorial Trophy.
Hedman joined Adam Fox of the New York Rangers and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche as finalists for the trophy, which is awarded to the defensive player “who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.”