At the trade deadline in April, the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders each made trades to upgrade their rosters for the remainder of the regular season and postseason. The biggest move for each team was to upgrade their line depths.
In their second-round playoff series, the Islanders trade pieces outplayed the Bruins trade pieces from the trade deadline and played a part in the Islanders winning the best-of-seven series in six games.
Taylor Hall didn’t have the series the Bruins had hoped he would.
Boston general manager Don Sweeney acquired Taylor Hall from the Buffalo Sabres along with bottom-six center Curtis Lazar for Anders Bjork and a draft pick. The 29-year-old Hall scored eight goals and had six assists in 16 regular-season games for the Black and Gold.
Hall scored just one goal in the second-round series, an empty-netter in the Bruins’ 5-2 Game 1 victory. After scoring two key goals in Boston’s first-round win over the Washington Capitals in five games, Hall struggled against the Islanders as he picked up an assist on Craig Smith’s goal in Game 3. He was held off the scoresheet in the final three games.
On the flip side, New York acquired Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac from the New Jersey Devils five days before the trade deadline and that deal played a part in the Bruins’ elimination.
Palmieri had four goals and two assists in the six games, which included goals in the final three games and he recorded a point in every game after Game 1. For good measure, Zajac opened the scoring in the series-clinching Game 6 with his first goal of the playoffs, which started a six-goal Islanders outburst to send the Bruins packing for the summer.
Two of the biggest names at the trade deadline that were moved met in the second round of the East Division playoffs. Unfortunately for the Bruins, the Islanders’ moves made in mid-April produced more than the Bruins’ moves and that is one reason why New York is one of the four remaining Stanley Cup playoff teams.