In Uniondale, the New York Islanders scored three times in the middle frame on
Brock Nelson scored twice ins series-clinching win for the New York Islanders
Wednesday en route to a 6-2 win over the Boston Bruins in Game 6.
The win advanced the Isles to the Stanley Cup Playoffs semifinals series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves to get the win for New York.
Brad Marchand scored two power play goals for Boston.
“It’s disappointing,” Marchand said. “We expected a longer run in this room. We felt like we had a group that could go really deep this year. I think that it just came down to a couple of breaks. They capitalized on a few opportunities that they got, and we didn’t on the other end. So I think there’s some games that we really outplayed them and came up short, but that’s playoffs.”
Brock Nelson struck twice for the Isles.
“Brock just had a child the other day with his wife, so he’s been dealing with that,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “Game 4 (4-1 win on Saturday), he played that night with no sleep. He’s been battling through that. … I think today, you saw him fresh. He settled in and played a Brock Nelson game.”
The Islanders and Lightning will meet for the second straight season in the semifinals.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in our group,” Tampa’s Brayden Point said after their Game 5 win over Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. “I thought we had a pretty good regular season where we were kind of building toward this. We got some guys back in our lineup that definitely helped. But it’s just the belief in our group. We’ve got four lines and all the [defensemen] and great goaltending, so we just feel confident.”
Travis Zac scored for New York, and Kyle Palmieri added his seventh of the playoffs for the Isles.
“Whenever you have an opportunity to close a team out, you want to bring your best and I thought we’ve been able to do that both times now, against Pittsburgh and now Boston in front of great fans, great atmospheres,” Nelson said. “It just feels right. You need to bring your A-game, and I thought we were able to do that again.”
Josh Bailey and Jean-Gabriel Pageau added two assists each to the scoresheet for the Islanders.
“He’s an elite talent, there’s no question about that,” Bailey said of Nelson. “I think [Anthony Beauvillier] and I are fortunate to get the opportunity to play with him. Big-game player. I think he probably doesn’t get enough recognition for what he does defensively out there, but really just a complete 200-foot player, been a real leader for us and a big reason why we’re sitting here talking.”
Cal Clutterbuck and Ryan Pulock scored into empty nets in the final minute of the third period to ice the win.
Tuukka Rask made 23 saves in the loss.
“They play well in this building,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They play a better defensive game in this building than they did in ours. Why that is, I don’t know. Sometimes it’s just the energy, the juice of matchups. There’s a bunch of different things that could go into that. I think they knew tonight that if they locked it down that would give them the best chance to win.
“They probably didn’t want to get into a trade-chances type of game, and they have good defensive players. Like, they’re a little bit underrated in that regard, the Pageaus of the world. He does a good job. There’s a reason why they employ him against [Patrice] Bergeron’s line.”
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