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Thomas, Bruins topple Islanders

Dec 4, 2007 - 3:39 AM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) - Tim Thomas helped the Boston Bruins end years of frustration at Nassau Coliseum.

Thomas stopped 33 shots and red-hot Glen Murray scored as the Bruins snapped a 10-game road losing streak against the New York Islanders with a 3-1 victory on Monday.

Petteri Nokelainen and Chuck Kobasew also scored for the Bruins, who were 0-6-0 with four ties at Nassau Coliseum since their last win here on December 22, 2001.

Boston bounced back from a 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday and improved to 3-2-0 on a six-game road trip.

"Our defense does a good job of taking the body, especially in a close game," Thomas said. "We feel good teams don't lose two in a row, and we bounced back from the loss in Tampa Bay with a strong game.'"

Chris Campoli scored with 1:51 remaining in the third period to prevent the Islanders from being shut out for the second straight game. New York failed to score more than two goals in any of its last 13 games, excluding one contest that ended in shootout.

"What's wrong with the offense? A lot," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said. "We've just got to work harder. It comes down to being a little more gritty, a little hungrier. We're OK, but OK just doesn't cut it."

The offensive troubles continued against the defensive-minded Bruins, who entered the game having allowed just 61 goals, the second lowest total in the Eastern Conference.

Rick DiPietro was back in goal after being given a rare night off on Saturday and stopped 19 shots. He had made 18 straight starts before being replaced by Wade Dubielewicz in Saturday's loss to Atlanta.

Murray opened the scoring with a power play goal in the first period. The veteran took a wrist shot from the right circle that went off the left post and into the net at 13:03 for his ninth goal of the season and seventh in his last eight games.

"Getting a lead is so crucial now," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "You look at the stats, and it seems a lot of teams who score first tend to do well."

Marc Savard assisted on the first goal, extending his points streak to 10 games.

A turnover by Islander defenseman Andy Sutton led to the second Boston goal. Nokelainen took the puck away from Sutton in front of the net and sent a high wrist shot for his first goal since October 13, 2005, when he was with the Islanders.

"I think he lost control a little bit," Nokelainen said. "Sometimes, you get lucky."

New York missed a good scoring chance midway through the second when Ruslan Fedotenko failed to convert on a centering pass from Josef Vasicek.

Campoli's goal in the third period put some spark into the offense, but New York could get no closer.

"I guess it's baby steps. We'll take it," Bill Guerin said of Campoli's goal.

The Islanders and Bruins met for the third time in 11 days after splitting a pair of games on Thanksgiving Weekend.