In Elmont, the New York Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov made 40 saves on Thursday night in a 3-1 win over the visiting Boston Bruins.
“It feels great,” Varlamov said. “It’s been a long time, so first win for me, it feels amazing. Finally.
“I had a tough stretch, but it’s over, so I’m happy for the team. We get two points today and I’m happy for myself.”
The Isles led, 3-0 until Mike Reilly ruined the shutout bid with a strike with 54 seconds left on the clock.
New York improved to 8-12-5.
The Isles’ Cal Clutterbuck hit for a pair of goals.
“The last little while, it’s been make-or-break,” Clutterbuck said. “(We) put ourselves in a tough spot. But I’ve said this like a million times, we’re just trying to focus on the day in front of us, one day at a time. Things can get overwhelming if you get too high or too low, so it’s one day at a time.”
The Bruins dropped to 14-10-2.
“I have no issue with the effort,” Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I thought our guys came to play tonight. I’d say after the first 10 minutes, we were on our toes much better. … All in all, I thought the guys played hard, tried to play the right way, got better as the game went on.”
Anthony Beauvillier had a single marker for the Islanders. It was his first goal in 15 games.
“I’ve been kind of grinding to find my game lately, but the last two games have been good,” Beauvillier said.
Clutterbuck iced the win with an empty-net goal with under three minutes to go in the game.
“I liked our start. We didn’t give up much through two periods, and then I thought we sat back a little bit more than we needed to in the third,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “But I thought we had good poise. There wasn’t any panic on the bench or anything.”
The Bruins were short benched for the game, with 17 skaters. Seven Bruins players are on NHL’s COVID19 protocol in the last three days.
“I’m always proud of this group,” Boston’s Nick Foligno said. “That’s the Bruin way. There’s no quit in this team. With everything we’ve faced the past 24 hours, it’s been a nightmare, to be honest with you. But we found a way to come in here and just work. That’s something we can control.
“I think we also looked at it as an opportunity for some guys that don’t get the same kind of ice time, and there’s an opportunity in front of them. I thought some guys played real hard tonight and gave us everything they had.”
Linus Ullmark made 25 saves. in the Boston loss.
“I couldn’t beat [Varlamov] today, unfortunately,” Ullmark said. “I needed to step up a little bit more. I didn’t. That’s on me. But I’m proud of the boys.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.