The Boston Bruins, coming off their first loss under interim coach Joe Sacco, bounced right back on their feet against the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.
Boston had shown signs of turning the page once Sacco took over at the helm and returned to that form as the Bruins hit the road again, this time in the Big Apple. Brad Marchand, the hero of Saturday night’s victory, sported the hero’s cape early by scoring two goals within the first nine minutes of the contest, giving Boston an early 2-0 advantage.
The issue, however, came in the form of maintaining the lead throughout a 6-3 victory over New York.
Twice, the Bruins watched the Islanders find their desperately needed equalizer, leaving Boston in search of both a go-ahead score and a defense capable of keeping New York at bay. First, it was Marchand in the first period, and then Morgan Geekie, who put Boston ahead 3-2 in the second period, putting Boston in a familiar position in dealing with the consequences of its self-inflicted miscues.
But… the Bruins were prepared with a loud third-period response.
Sacco, Marchand and the rest of Boston’s locker room shared an identical sentiment in Detroit, feeling as though the page was starting to turn. Of course, that could only be proved through performance and finding themselves with their backs against the wall at UBS Arena. Being mindful, Pavel Zacha came through, heroically, this time with a game-deciding goal — and insurance — in the third period.
Ripping a page from Marchand’s first period showing, Zacha scored twice in the third period, within three minutes of each other, to recapture Boston’s multi-score lead — and proving that the Islanders are indeed the worst third-period team in the NHL and the Bruins have what it takes to turn their year around.
Impressively, Boston held New York to zero power play opportunities by the time the score reached 5-3 — Nikita Zadorov was charged with a cross-checking penalty at 15:50 to mark the first penalty called all night long. From there, the Islanders failed to capitalize on the power play and the Bruins cruised to a 4-1 record under Sacco’s leadership and 11-10-3 record overall on the campaign.
The Bruins will return home to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET and that matchup will be aired on TNT.
