For the second consecutive game the New York Islanders found themselves down by a significant margin with about half the contest in the books. They overcame a 3-0 deficit to beat Minnesota on Sunday and tonight the Bruins held a 3-1 lead late into the second period.
Then the Islanders’ power play went to work. The Bruins accumulated three minor penalties in the final four minutes of the second frame and New York’s Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo took advantage of them. Each of them reach the 15-goal mark to tie the game through 40 minutes.
John Tavares already had two assists at that point, but he took over from there, finding the back of the net twice to complete the 5-3 victory over Boston.
It was Tavares’ first four-point night of the 2013-14 campaign and gives him 44 points in 40 contests. At the same time, Okposo extended his point streak to six games.
The Islanders are still just 13-21-7, so naturally they have a daunting uphill climb ahead of them if they want to make the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Bruins are 26-12-2 as they cling onto their thin lead in the Atlantic Division.