A live crowd at TD Garden bore witness to what they’ve seen on TV this season: The Bruins can’t beat the Islanders.
A crowd of 2,191, the 12 percent capacity allowed, saw the orange and blue curse continue. On the first shift of overtime, Jaroslav Halak fumbled Nick Leddy’s shot from the wing, and Anthony Beauvillier jabbed home the rebound.
Islanders 4, Bruins 3, at 0:21 of extras. Salty invective rained from the rafters. Ah, to be home again.
The Bruins (16-8-5), who held fourth place in the East coming in, dropped to 0-3-2 against the division leaders from Long Island. Fans trickled onto Causeway Street a bit deflated, after a wild finish that saw three goals in the final three-plus minutes of the night.
Oliver Wahlstrom (Yarmouth, Maine) put in a backhand swipe off Halak’s elbow with 2:56 remaining in regulation, the last of three goals the visitors scored to erase a 2-0 lead.
Fifty-four seconds later, Anders Bjork redeemed himself. The winger, unable to find a home in Bruce Cassidy’s top 12, had his stumbles on Thursday. But he darted into the slot and smacked a feed from Charlie Coyle past Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov, sending the crowd into a frenzy. These walls have not heard such a sound since March 7, 2020, the last Bruins home game before the pandemic.
“It was cool,” said Bjork, who was scratched for four of the previous 10 games, and scored his second goal of the season. “It’s why we love playing for the Bruins, moments like that. I don’t think other places have it, but we do.”
They don’t have the satisfaction of a victory against the Islanders, who visit Causeway Street again on April 15 and 16. A different kind of foe arrives Saturday in the Buffalo Sabres, who lost their 16th game in a row on Thursday. The Bruins may not have Tuukka Rask around to help push that losing streak toward the NHL record of 18 straight.
Rask, suspected to be dealing with back stiffness, made his first start since March 7. He went Gumby to stop a tricky deflection early in the first period, getting showered with the requisite “Tuuuuuk” from the crowd. It would be his last of the night. Rask pulled up lame after making six saves. Halak (17 saves on 21 shots) shed his ballcap after the first intermission, and battled as the Islanders slowly took control.
“Wasn’t easy on Jaro,” said Cassidy, who didn’t have an update on Rask (upper-body) postgame. “They finished around the front of the net. We could have been harder. We could have used an extra stop. Got a point out of it. Were in a position to get two.”
But, Cassidy continued, the Islanders played winning hockey in the third period, better than the Bruins did. He also was unimpressed by the power play (1 for 4). It scored to extend the lead to two goals, but the game turned after the power play couldn’t score on a four-minute advantage in the second. The direct aftermath: Islanders winger Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored on a three on two, following a poor change by the Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak line.
Cassidy sounded like he wanted more out of that unit, which served up a rare zero-point night, and landed two shots in nearly five minutes of power-play time together.
“Guys that we rely on, leaders that I’ve praised for years here,” Cassidy said. “Disappointed, in not just being able to grind it out, change when you’re supposed to, make the plays you’re supposed to on that power play. It might not go in, but keep the momentum. Obviously they’re going to get a bit of juice off of it … but now they kill a penalty and they cut the deficit in half, all in a quick strike.
“They need to be better in that situation. I expect better. That, to me, gave the Islanders some life, that really wasn’t necessary.”
After the bad-change goal at 7:21 of the second, the Bruins lost Islanders winger Josh Bailey in the defensive zone 4:33 into the third. He tied the score at 2.
Both of the Bruins’ first-period goals looked remarkably similar: a hard drive from the off wing, an expert screen from Coyle in front, an under-the-radar Bruin scoring his first of the season, and the fans doing their best impression of a playoff crowd.
Karson Kuhlman outwaited a fly-by from Beauvillier and beat Varlamov far side, 11:42 in. After making a case to stick in the lineup, the hard-charging winger was lost for the night on the opening shift of the third. He blocked a Ryan Pulock one-timer with the top of his left hand. No immediate word on his availability for Saturday.
Similar to Kuhlman, right-shot defenseman Steven Kampfer fired a tumbling slapper into the Islanders’ net at 17:35, no doubt convincing the 12 percent club it would be their night.
It was not.
“It’s not going to replace 18,000, but it’s nice to hear them again,” Cassidy said. “Unfortunately we couldn’t send them home in a better mood. There were some good pockets of hockey for them, and some other pockets they were probably disappointed and frustrated. We are as well. Hopefully Saturday we give them more to cheer about.”
Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports.
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Bruins again lose to Islanders, this time 21 seconds into overtime - The Boston Globe
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