3 Bruins' Takeaways From Strong Third Period in Win Over Islanders

Following a 2-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night at the TD Garden, the Boston Bruins were a frustrated team. After landing 33 shots on the net with nothing to show for it, some players stayed positive, like Charlie McAvoy.

“The dam is gonna break at some point,'' said the Bruins defenseman. "Just hope it’s soon.”

Turns out, he was right. Struggling to score at even strength or on the power play in 2024-25, the Bruins erupted for six even-strength goals Wednesday night on Long Island with three of those goals, two from Pavel Zacha, coming in the third period in a much-needed road victory to improve to 11-10-1 on the season. Here a three takeaways from their third win in four games.

Bruins self-inflected mistakes were not costly for one night

For the first time in three games under interim coach Joe Sacco, the Bruins had self-inflected mistakes, something that was common in the first 20 games. It was very costly in the defensive end after grabbing a 2-0 lead. Clearing the puck out, just one or two times would have made a huge difference in the game.

In the first period, the Bruins' inability to simply clear the puck out of the zone led to a turnover and a goal from Maxim Tsyplakov who beat Korpisalo through the legs. It was a save that the Black and Gold needed. After regaining the lead in the second period, Nikita Zadorov had a bad turnover in the defensive end which led to a game-tying goal from Brock Nelson with eight seconds left in the period. At the end of the period, one more clear and they take a one-goal lead into the third period. The 2024-25 Boston Bruins where nothing is easy.

Bruins have quick start

If there was a game where the Bruins needed a quick start, it was on the back-to-back, on the road, and against a team that was kicking back at home Tuesday night while Boston was losing to Vancouver. Captain Brad Marchand got things going just 57 seconds into the game with a goal off an offensive zone face-off. Just under six minutes later, Marchand tallied his second of the night for a 2-0 lead.

In their previous three games, the Bruins scored three goals combined against the Utah Hockey Club, Detroit Red Wings, and Canucks and they tied that mark in the second period when Morgan Geekie tallied his second of the season.

Bruins win the third period

The third-period struggles for the Black and Gold this season have been noted and it was easy to think that they were going to have another final 20 minutes where they were outscored and outplayed. The Islanders entered the game as the worst team in the third period goal-differential with a plus/minus of minus-13, the worst in the NHL. Boston took full advantage.

Pavel Zacha broke a 3-3 tie and tallied his fourth of the season when he tipped an Andrew Peeke shot from the point with just under 10 minutes left. Four minutes later, he tallied his second of the period off a pass from David Pastrnak from behind the net before Zadorov sealed the win with an empty-net goal, his first as a Bruin.

After an off-day on Thursday for Thanksgiving, the Bruins return to the TD Garden ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night, and then they host the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday afternoon.