Islanders get plenty of chances but have trouble finding the back of the net in loss to Bruins
Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin cools off during the second period against the Boston Bruins at UBS Arena on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Islanders suddenly can’t score at home or on the power play. Even with a lopsided advantage in shots.
Yet Alex Steeves’ shorthanded goal helped clinch the Bruins’ 3-1 win on Wednesday night in front of a third straight sell-out crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena.
“I thought we played a really good game if you’re looking at the time of possession, if you’re looking at the scoring chances,” coach Patrick Roy said. “The quality of our shots maybe has to improve. We’re going to have to have a little more traffic around the net.”
The Islanders (13-8-2) held a 45-14 shot advantage, including 23-3 in the third period, but the high-danger chances were even at 7-7 according to NaturalStatTrick.com. They went 0-for-4 on the power play with four shots, deepening their rut to 0-for-27 dating to the second period in Las Vegas on Nov. 13.
Ilya Sorokin’s 11 saves were just one off his career-low for a full game.
“We’re trying to find a way to beat their goalie and he made some big saves,” Kyle Palmieri said of Jeremy Swayman. “Some we could have definitely made it harder on him.”
The Bruins (14-11-0) swept the three-game season series.
The Islanders are 1-2-0 on this seven-game homestand with just two goals, falling to 2-8-1 when outshooting their opponent.
“We played really well defensively,” Roy said. “We had that push in the third and we just couldn’t get that one by their goalie. The power play wasn’t as sharp as it was in maybe the other games. Our entries were maybe a little too cute. We tried to force plays instead of putting the puck deep.”
Mathew Barzal, on his bobblehead night, opened the scoring at 4:41 of the first period with a highlight-reel move to the left post as he deked out Swayman.
But Steeves got behind defenseman Adam Boqvist to tie it 92 seconds later and his shorthanded goal off an odd-man rush made it 3-1 at 10:21 of the third period.
Tanner Jeannot’s rising wrist shot had made it 2-1 just 43 seconds into the second period.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
More Islanders
