Islanders Even Series With Game 4 Victory

Following a 2-1 Game 3 overtime win Thursday night, the Boston Bruins had a chance to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the New York Islanders in their East Division second-round series Saturday night.

Unfortunately for the Black and Gold, they allowed three third-period goals in a 4-1 Game 4 loss that even the best-of-seven series at 2-2. The series shifts back to Boston for Game 5 Monday night in what is now a best-of-three series.

Game 4 is not one where the Bruins are going to be happy about their play. If you want to get technical, the top-six forwards had an off-night against the Isles. Yes, David Krejci scored the lone Boston goal in the game in the second period on the power play, but after that, the chances were few and far between as the Islanders slowly took over the game on their way to evening the series.

How tough of a night was it for the Bruins top-six? Well, it was basically summed at the end of the first period for the top-line. David Pastrnak was set up with a perfect pass from Patrice Bergeron and with a wide-open net, Pasta’s one-timer hit the post, and Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov covered the rebound. Following the shot, Pastrnak dropped to the ice in frustration.

The top-line finished with eight shots on the net, while the Black and Gold’s second-line combined for five shots, but of the 13 shots, how many were of the high volume or legit chances besides the Pastrnak chance in the first period? Not too many.

What makes this game more frustrating for the Bruins was it was not the best night from Varlamov between the pipes. The Islanders’ netminder left a lot of rebounds, but because it seemed like a lot of the Bruins’ shots were from distance, they were not able to capitalize.

Game 4 was an ugly loss and not the best effort from the Bruins, but they return home for Game 5 Monday night with a chance to regain the series lead in front of their home crowd.