They didn’t lead for one second of this game, and ended up with two points!

Still no Pavel Zacha or Charlie McAvoy. Matt Poitras sitting this one out. A demoralizing loss in New Jersey Wednesday evening. The Boston Bruins needed something, ANYTHING, as they went into UBS Arena to take on the New York Islanders. Well, we certainly got something to watch!

First Period

Another game where the Bruins look flat, but get bailed out by their goaltending. We’ll come back to this later, but a big save by Ully keeps this game scoreless.

Second Period

Aaaaaand there goes any good feelings. The Bruins let Alexander Romanov step into a clapper and slam one past Linus Ullmark, giving the Islanders a 1-0 lead.

Ugly defense from Kevin Shattenkirk (yes, there was a bad hop over his stick) as the Bruins let up an odd-man rush, and of course, Simon Holmstrom dekes and scores. 2-0 Islanders.

Remember how I said we’d come back to getting bailed out by your goaltending? On the power play, the Bruins let up another 2-on-1, but Linus Ullmark makes the slickest reaction save by the blade of his skate to deny Holmstrom! This is inarguably the save of the game because…

Later on that power play, tic-tac-goal! Marchand-JVR-Geekie! Sneaky Geekie, The Geek Squad, whatever you want to call it, it changed the momentum of this game. The Bruins FINALLY score, it’s 2-1!

Morgan Geekie keeps the puck in the zone, Kevin Shattenkirk loops around and finds that seam pass to David Pastrnak. Slam dunk one-timer. Tied. It’s a 2-2 game!

Third Period

This is where not having McAvoy or Derek Forbort (also hurt) on the PK makes a difference. Bo Horvat is allowed to find some soft space in the slot and rifles one through Ullmark, it’s 3-2 Islanders.

We all thought Marchand had scored earlier in the period, but the puck was deemed to have come off his glove, so no goal there. However, he was tripped, so a power play ensues and JVR makes a spectacular deflection off a Kevin Shattenkirk slap/pass to re-tie this game, 3-3!

Can the Bruins not hold leads or PK anymore? A really tough rebound off the boards finds a wiiiide open Brock Nelson, who can easily hammer one home to give the Islanders a 4-3 lead.

The Bruins had to dig deep. In the Ford F150 Final Five…they had to score a five-on-five goal. This was ugly, but it counts! Mason Lohrei had no business scoring from below the goal line in the corner, but he banks it off of Sorokin, and it’s tied once again, 4-4!

David Pastrnak took a phantom tripping call with 17.5 seconds left, and we had to hold onto our butt as this game needed more than 60 minutes. Shades of Wednesday?

Overtime

Despite the late third period penalty, the Bruins kill it off and send this one to the skills competition!

Shootout

WOOOOOO. Charlie Coyle and David Pastrnak both score to send Bruins fans hope happy–finally–as they take a 5-4 win over the Islanders. Anyone else exhausted after this one?

My Three Stars

1. Linus Ullmark
2. David Pastrnak
3. Can I say Linus Ullmark again? Really, it’s Morgan Geekie

Game Notes

• Linus Ullmark absolutely stood on his head tonight. He’s been more up and down this season than last, but tonight shows why he won the Vezina last year. Four goals aren’t really indicative of just how good he was this evening.
• David Pastrnak with a PP goal and one in the shootout! Nice to see the Bruins carboloading.
• A 5-on-5 goal, could it really be? Mason Lohrei had ZERO business scoring from where he did, but boy, did the B’s need it.
• How about 3-for-3 on the power play, all in different forms?
• The Geekster has been on the ice for six consecutive Bruins goals. Four tonight, his tally in NJ, and the fifth and final goal of the B’s win over the Coyotes last week.
• OK, OK, onto the bad. Team defense…is really ugly. They need Charlie McAvoy back and FAST. Kevin Shattenkirk did get a PP assist, but it only redeems him from a really ugly pinch, getting caught flat footed and letting up a goal before then.

• OK that’s bad.
• So no Zacha, and Poitras sitting for the night, and the face-offs didn’t look good either. They need centers, regardless of health.
• Jesper Boqvist played 4:47, lol. Monty basically played the whole game 11-6.
• No rest for the weary, right? Back at it tomorrow night against the Rangers at TD Garden.