Bruins rally for 5-2 win over Islanders

After absorbing an absolutely brutal 7-2 beatdown at the hands of the Senators in Ottawa on Monday night, the Bruins were given a chance to bounce back less than 24 hours later Tuesday night against the Islanders.

And though it looked like a chance the Bruins were going to squander entirely with a downright ugly first period, they rallied in the second period with three straight goals, added more in the third period, and got back in the win column by way of a 5-2 final over Ilya Sorokin and the Islanders at TD Garden.

It was a win led by Boston's top guns, too, with goals from Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm, and David Pastrnak, as well as a primary helper on a shot-pass of an assist from Charlie McAvoy on a Mikey Eyssimont goal.

“My top guys gotta be the top guys," Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said following his team's victory. "And if not, then it’s gonna be hard.”

But before the big dogs led, the Bruins had that aforementioned rough opening-period showing, with the Bruins down in an 0-2 hole just five minutes into the game. It was even worse than just the two-goal hole, too, as the Bruins landed just two shots on goal after the opening minute of the game, and went the final nine minutes and change of the first period without a shot on Sorokin.

Going back to Monday, it was a downright rotten four periods of hockey for Boston. But the Bruins room wasn't done. Pastrnak cited the first intermission energy as a 'positive' one for the club, Joonas Korpisalo said the message was to keep going, and Sturm reminded his club of a similar situation from just days ago.

"I still felt good. It wasn’t the stop we wanted, no, but I felt good for some reason," Sturm admitted. "Because the guys were dialed in. They gave me everything they had in the first period. And the message was, ‘We just saw that script. We’ve just been through it with Colorado.’ They did the same thing and we stuck with it in the second period and that’s exactly what happened.” 

In the second period, Boston's pushback on the Isles was headlined by a span of three goals in just 3:51, beginning with a power-play strike from Lindholm before markers from Pastrnak and then Eyssimont.

And with the goals on their side, the Bruins focused on locking things down, and had to when they found themselves on the wrong end of a double minor, and then again with another two penalties against Boston in the third period.

Overall, Boston's penalty kill went a perfect 5-for-5 against the Isles after allowing four power-play goals to the Senators on Monday night.

And in goal, it was the Korpisalo show, as the Finnish netminder finished strong with a 33-for-35 performance in the Boston net. After allowing two goals on three shots to begin his night, Korpisalo buckled down for 32 straight saves for the B's.

On the backend, the Bruins welcomed Hampus Lindholm back to the lineup after a five-game absence due to a lower-body injury that had held him to just three appearances this season. Lindholm, whose activation led to Michael Callahan's reassignment down to AHL Providence ahead of this contest, finished this game with one assist, one shot, and two blocks in 19:03 of time on ice over 22 shifts.

Elsewhere on the point, the Bruins also dressed Jonathan Aspirot for the first NHL appearance of his career, opposite Henri Jokiharju on Boston's third pairing.

With Lindholm back and Aspirot in, the Bruins sat Mason Lohrei as a healthy scratch. Sturm's decision to sit Lohrei came after Lohrei once again struggled with Charlie McAvoy on the Bruins' top defensive pairing. Sturm called the scratch a chance for Lohrei to have a 'reset' with his game.

The Bruins will get back to work Thursday night when they welcome the Sabres to TD Garden. The B's beat Buffalo by a 3-1 final back on Oct. 11.