Islanders 1 - 3 Bruins
Final
  for this game

Pastrnak scores twice to lead Bruins past Islanders 3-1

Mar 13, 2016 - 1:07 AM BOSTON (AP) Coming off a disappointing loss, Boston coach Claude Julien felt his team would play better on Saturday. And Julien got exactly what he was looking for from his Bruins.

David Pastrnak scored two goals and Tuukka Rask made 25 saves, leading Boston to a 3-1 victory over the New York Islanders.

The Bruins were coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to Carolina on Thursday, and Julien said right afterward that he thought his team would play much better against the Islanders, another team jockeying for position in the Eastern Conference. The Atlantic Division leaders responded with their fifth win in seven games.

''We knew we were going to get a pretty hungry Islanders team and we were going to get the best of them,'' Julien said, ''so it was important for us to be on top of our game right from the drop of the puck.''

Loui Eriksson added a goal and two assists for the Bruins, who have won their last five games against the Islanders.

Pastrnak's point-blank wrist shot beat Thomas Greiss for a 2-1 lead with 8.9 seconds left in the second period. He slid his 12th goal of the season under Greiss with 2:34 remaining in the third.

Each of the Bruins' three goals occurred in the final three minutes of a period.

''(It's always good) to help our line get a chance in the end (of periods),'' Pastrnak said. ''I think we had a pretty good game, you know we had a lot of opportunities to score even before.''

New York captain John Tavares scored his 200th career goal, becoming the 11th player in franchise history to reach the mark.

''I didn't really have any idea until maybe a couple days ago, found out I was one away,'' Tavares said. ''So, you know, it's 200, and hopefully I can get another couple hundred.''

Greiss stopped 28 shots in his first regulation loss since Jan. 2 after entering with a 7-0-2 record in his last nine starts. Greiss is filling for Jaroslav Halak, who is expected to miss at least six weeks with a lower-body injury.

Eriksson dragged a puck around Greiss for a power-play goal late in the first. It was Eriksson's 26th of the season.

New York pulled even on Tavares' backhand goal midway through the second. He also has 26 goals this season.

The Islanders outshot the Bruins 9-6 in the final period.

''Going to have to learn in this league that if (you) don't manage the puck and you want to give up unforced error(s), you're not going to win,'' New York coach Jack Capuano said. ''End of story.''

NOTES: Bruins D Kevan Miller was a game-time decision, but played after missing three games with an upper-body injury. ''It's the first game back,'' Miller said after the game. ''You want to keep things simple and move the puck quick and kind of move your feet, get your feet underneath you.'' ... Islanders D Calvin de Haan sat out his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury. ... The Bruins had the most points in the NHL since the Feb. 29 trade deadline (10), and neither Boston or New York had a regulation loss in March entering Saturday. ... Boston wore green St. Patrick's Day warmup jerseys in its last home game before the Thursday holiday.






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