The New York “Saints” marched all over the Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins dropped Game 6 of their second-round playoff matchup Wednesday night against the New York Islanders by a score of 6-2. As a result, the Islanders take the series four games to two advancing to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Conference Final.

For Boston, this feels like yet another massive miss in the post-season. Having not sacrificed three consecutive games all season long the Islanders gradually wore the Bruins down, and in doing so, captured Games 4, 5, and 6 with ease.

So how exactly did Boston belly out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs? Revisionist history reveals distinct events which placed them in an uncomfortable hole for which they couldn’t climb out.

The Islanders made the Bruins uncomfortable all series long.

Going back to Game 2, after Charlie Coyle opened the scoring the Islanders tallied three straight goals in the second period to take a commanding 3-1 lead into the final frame. But Boston took over in the third, Patrice Bergeron made it a 3-2 game, and with under five minutes in regulation, Brad Marchand’s powerplay goal tied the game at three. The Garden erupted and momentum swung in favor of the Bruins who were well poised to put a stranglehold on the series.

Despite the effort, it was an ill-timed Jeremy Lauzon D-to-D pass at the offensive blueline in overtime which sealed their fate. Deflecting off Coyle’s skate, Lauzon’s pass bounced perfectly to Casey Cizikas’ stick, who charged in alone on Rask. Cizikas buried the overtime winner up high, a monumental shift in the series for the Islanders. Not only was it tied at a game apiece, but Boston missed a prime chance to get comfortable, and the Islanders knew it.

On the backend, this Bruins team wasn’t up to snuff.

Defensively, Boston was well behind the eight-ball after Kevan Miller was knocked out of the lineup in the previous series against Washington. It was evident that serious adjustments needed to be made, but to be frank, Boston lacked the organizational depth necessary to make adequate changes.

Miller is, without a doubt, Boston’s most intimidating presence and an expert penalty killer — the type of guy you need against the Islanders. So the knife was twisted when Brandon Carlo suffered what appeared to be a concussion on an otherwise clean body check from Cal Clutterbuck in Game 3.

For Game 4 and beyond, Boston was forced to pair Mike Reilly with Jeremy Lauzon and Connor Clifton with Jarred Tinordi. They would go on to lose the next three games.

The Bruins just didn’t have any “puck luck.”

Whether it was for or against, Boston seemed to be on the opposite end of “puck luck” all series long. In a scoreless Game 4, Patrice Bergeron found a wide-open David Pastrnak on the backdoor who was staring down all six feet of the empty net and rang a one-timer off the post. The rebound slid gently behind Islanders’ goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who covered for a whistle.

While shortly thereafter, David Krejci scored to give Boston the lead.

Mat Barzal would break the 1-1 tie in the third period. Scott Mayfield’s point shot was blocked but the deflection popped in the air and landed directly in front of Barzal, who swung and made contact before the puck hit the ice.

The misfortune extended itself into Game 5.

With the game tied early in the second period, the Islanders found themselves on the powerplay. Josh Bailey attempted a cross-ice pass through a maze of players with the ideal target being Kyle Palmieri. Off Bailey’s stick, it would have taken a miracle for that puck to get to him, instead it pinballed off Connor Clifton’s skates and skidded right into Palmieri’s wheelhouse for an easy tap in.

Giving credit where it’s due, the New York Islanders executed their gameplan to perfection. Never once did head coach Barry Trotz allow his team to get out of sorts. Fascinatingly, he has instilled a believability in his room and in a short tournament that can be lethal.

On paper, the Islanders aren’t the most flashy or skilled group, rather they will their opposition into submission. Simply put, Barry Trotz took what the Boston Bruins pride themselves on, stout defense, a hard forecheck, keeping your opponent to the outside, and beat them at their own game.