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Wheeler, Krejci lead Bruins past Islanders

Nov 28, 2008 - 9:08 PM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Bruins got a wake-up call in their traditional Friday matinee following Thanksgiving.

Blake Wheeler and David Krejci scored 10 seconds apart in a five-goal third period blitz as the Bruins beat the New York Islanders, 7-2, before a rare sellout at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Michael Ryder scored twice for the Bruins, who had seven players with at least two points in the contest. Ryder was placed on the line with Wheeler and Krejci and responded with one of his most productive games since being signed as a free agent in the off-season.

"It was good to finally get a couple to go in there," Ryder said. "Playing with new linemates tonight, we didn't know how it would go but I think we have good chemistry there and we managed to create some offense."

The Bruins bounced back after a 3-2 loss in Buffalo on Wednesday and improved to 10-1-1 in the month of November to tie the New York Rangers for first place in the Eastern Conference with 34 points.

"Obviously, you want to bounce back," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "I liked the attitude of our team following that loss.

The Islanders wasted little time getting the early jump on the Bruins.

Jeremy Colliton collected a loose puck in the neutral zone and fed Nate Thompson down the right wing. Thompson wristed a shot over the left shoulder of Manny Fernandez for his second goal of the season and a 1-0 Islanders' lead just 1:46 into the game.

Phil Kessel had a pair of point-blank chances late in the first period but was denied by Joey MacDonald on both tries. The Bruins were trailing 1-0 after one, just the sixth time in 23 games Boston was down after 20 minutes.

"In the first period, we were a little sloppy, we kept going back with the puck instead of going forward with it," Ryder said. "After the first period, we just wanted to make sure to get it deep and we did and managed to score some goals."

The Bruins broke through in the second thanks to their first power play chance of the game. With Jeff Tambellini in the penalty box serving two minutes for tripping, Chuck Kobasew put back a loose puck at the feet of MacDonald for his fourth tally of the season.

Ryder then capitalized on a turnover by New York's Joshua Bailey deep in his own zone. Bailey fired the puck from his own end line but it was intercepted by Ryder at the top of the right circle. Ryder wristed a shot through a screen and past MacDonald for his fourth goal of the season.

"The luxury we have is that we have other players who can play on the power play who deserve to be there," Julien said. "We put Ryder there at the end because we felt he was having a good game. It's about earning it. If guys deserve it, we'll try to make room for them."

The key save of the game came midway through the third period, with Boston protecting a 2-1 lead. Bill Guerin had a breakaway on Fernandez. The Bruins goalie came up with the save, leading to a rush that resulted in Wheeler's goal that made it 3-1 Boston at 6:48 of the third. Ten seconds later, Wheeler fed Krejci, who netted his sixth, making it 4-1.

"I think that can get overshadowed," Wheeler said. "Manny made an unbelievable save on that. He's a great guy on those breakaways. Manny made a great save there and then the puck wouldn't stop going in their net."

"It was definitely a huge turning point, to have them come right down and score after that. And then the one right after that was a turning point, too," Islanders coach Scott Gordon said.

MacDonald was pulled following Boston's fourth goal and replaced by Peter Mannino, who made his NHL debut.

"It had nothing to do with Joey," Gordon said. "It's just the fact we're playing tomorrow and he's playing. I didn't like what I was seeing from our team. It's hard to be aggressive when we're not backing each other up."

Boston scored on three of its four power play chances on the day, including one by Ryder in the third period that helped to seal the win.

"We just had to stick with it and not allow them to get back into it," Julien said.