Snap Shots: New York Islanders vs. Boston Bruins – 11/02/13

Brad Penner USA Today Sports

Welcome to ‘Snap Shots’, our condensed, quick-fix post-game follow up after every match.
Bringing you all the facts, figures and results of the game at a glance.

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New York Islanders (6-5-3, 15 pts) at Boston Bruins (8-5-0, 16pts)

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, November 2nd, 2013

Game 14

Islanders 3 – Bruins 1

SOG: 34-27

Pre-Game Quips & Questions (Some stats courtesy of NYI Gameday Notes)

Tonight marks the first of three regular season games between the New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins. The Bruins have won two of the last three overall, and all of the previous three meetings at Uniondale.

The New York Islanders carried a 1-2 record over their past three games into tonight’s contest with the Bruins, the lone win coming in a shootout with the Ottawa Senators last night.

The Isles will look to special teams for the advantage: they boast the 6th best power play in the league (23.3%), while the Bruins penalty kill has struggled at 23rd (78.4%). The Isles’ penalty killing ranks at 14th (82%) while the Bruins have connected at a disappointing 16.7% with the man advantage, 20th in the league.

After having started goalie Tukka Rask in 11 of their first 12 games, Boston may go with backup Chad Johnson tonight. Johnson is 1-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA.

The Bruins have outscored their opponents 35-22 on the season. The Isles’ 42 goals are good for fourth in the East, but their 43 goals allowed ties them for second worst in the conference.

Boston’s road record is 4-1-0. The Isles are 2-3-3 at home.

The Islanders have had an up and down season to date. Eleven of their thirteen games this season have been decided by one goal (4-4-3) and they’ve trailed in four of their five wins. Their lone decisive victory was a 6-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes on October 9th.

Players to watch tonight:

Islanders

• Kyle Okposo 4G, 10A, 14pts

Bruins

• David Krejci 2G, 11A, 13 pts

Here’s how it all played out…

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Lineups

Forward Lines:

• Vanek-Tavares-Okposo;
• Bouchard-Nielsen-Bailey;
• Grabner-Regin-Clutterbuck;
• Nelson-Cizikas-Martin

Defense Pairings:

• MacDonald-Hamonic;
• Hickey-Carkner;
• Donovan-Martinek

Goal:

• Kevin Poulin

Scratches

• Lubomir Visnovsky–Upper body
• Colin McDonald–Lower body
• Brian Strait–Upper body
• Eric Boulton–Healthy scratch

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Goals

2nd Period: (6:15) NYI John Tavares (6); assist Thomas Vanek (7)
2nd Period: (13:13) NYI Andrew MacDonald (1); assists Travis Hamonic (4), Kyle Okposo (11)
2nd Period: (15:27) BOS PPG Dougie Hamilton (3); assists Reilly Smith (6), Ryan Spooner (2)
2nd Period: (16:08) NYI Thomas Vanek (5); assists Kyle Okposo (12), Travis Hamonic (5)

Penalties

2nd Period
13:30 NYI Brock Nelson Holding the stick – 2 min against Daniel Paille
19:04 BOS Dougie Hamilton Holding – 2 min against Kyle Okposo

3rd Period
02:27 BOS Torey Krug Hooking – 2 min against Brock Nelson
02:48 NYI John Tavares Hooking – 2 min against Brad Marchand
02:48 NYI John Tavares Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 min
07:59 BOS Adam McQuaid Roughing – 2 min against Cal Clutterbuck
07:59 NYI Cal Clutterbuck Roughing – 2 min against Adam McQuaid
14:24 BOS Zdeno Chara Roughing – 2 min against Cal Clutterbuck

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Play By Play Highlights

Period One

Very little action of note in the first, with no goals or penalties. Isles outshot the Bruins 9-6.

Period Two

A near goal off a Thomas Hickey shot, but nobody was able to pick up the rebound.

John Tavares ripped his 6th of the year, with the assist to Thomas Vanek. Okposo set up the play with a nice pass but no assist was awarded. The assist for Vanek is his 499th career point.

Less than two minutes later Kevin Poulin comes up huge, robbing Brad Marchand to preserve the one goal lead.

Andrew MacDonald notches his first of the season, increasing the Isles’ lead to 2-0, with assists to Travis Hamonic and Okposo.

Brock Nelson takes the first penalty of the game, giving the Bruins a power play. Carl Soderberg scores with the man advantage, with helpers from Hamilton and Smith, to cut the Isles’ lead in half.

Okposo earns his second helper of the evening, feeding Vanek for his first goal as an Islander, and his 500th career point.

Isles get their first shot at the power play with just under a minute remaining in the frame.

The second ended with the Isles up 3-1, outshooting the Bruins 22-15.

Period Three

Isles fail to capitalize on the remainder of the power play, and seconds later are given another chance as Krug draws two for hooking.

Twenty seconds later Tavares uncharacteristically draws a minor penalty plus an unsportsmanlike conduct. 1:40 of 4 on 4 then an extended Bruin power play.

The Isles kill off the penalty. Cal Clutterbuck and Adam McQuaid draw coincidental roughing minors at the eight minute mark.

Vanek with a nice scoring chance at 11:46, stoned by Johnson.

Zdeno Chara draws a penalty for roughing. Isles go on their 3rd power play.

Bruins kill the penalty, and call a timeout with a minute and a half left to play.

Poulin shuts the door on Hamilton, preventing a sure goal.

Isles miss the empty net twice; no matter – final score NYI 3 BOS 1. Shots: 34-27

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Post-Game Responses & Reactions

The opening frame was fairly quiet. It seemed as though the teams were feeling each other out. Both backups were between the pipes – Poulin for the Isles, Johnson for the Bruins. Neither was severely tested, as the teams combined for fifteen shots on goal.

Business began to pick up in the second period, as the Isles connected for three goals on thirteen shots. The top scoring line of Thomas Vanek, John Tavares and Kyle Okposo were firing on all cylinders – Vanek got his fifth of the season, his first as an Islander, and his 500th career point. Okposo connected for a pair of assists. And Tavares scored his 6th goal of the year. The teams exchanged power plays, Boston converted on theirs to get on the scoreboard.

Shots were twelve apiece in the third, and each team spent six minutes with the extra man, but no goals were recorded. Some frantic action in the dying minutes of the frame, including a stellar save by Poulin on a Hamilton slapshot.

The victory gives the Isles back to back wins for the first time this season. The win was Poulin’s first of the year.

Vanek, Poulin and Okposo were named the three stars of the game.

The Isles record now stands at 6-5-0-3, good for 15 points, and second in the Metropolitan Division behind the Pittsburgh Penguins.