Isles stop Bruins on skills

In Uniondale, Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves in a 2-1 win for the New York Islanders over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

“That was a big save in the right moment,” Varlamov said. “A key save, I would say. … I was kind of like out of position and the puck bounced back like right on his stick. The net was like wide open, so the guy’s shooting at an empty net. I had a chance to stop it with my stick. Kind of a lucky play, but it hit my stick.”

The win extended the Isles point streak to nine games.

“I think every point matters,” New York’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “At this point, every point is important. I don’t think it matters which team we’re playing against, we’re always trying to win the match. Obviously, we’re happy about these two points, but we can’t be satisfied.”

David Pastrnak was the Bruins’ lone scorer when he posted them to a 1-0 lead.

“I thought we were the better team. We didn’t have much luck around the net,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I liked our team’s effort from start to finish. It was a pretty tight third period. We’ve had issues with our third periods in here the last three times, so we played better. We didn’t generate a lot, but we didn’t give up a lot either. We kept ourselves in the game.”

Brock Nelson‘s power play goal late in the middle frame tied the game at 1-1.

“Every time we match up against them, it seems to be pretty tight,” New York’s Ryan Pulock said. “Obviously, our last game (a 7-2 win on Feb. 25) we separated ourselves a bit in the third. Every time, it’s a tough game. They’re hard, they’re physical on their forecheck, we like to play that way, too. It was tight all game, especially in the third. We like being in those games, those playoff-type games. We’re comfortable there and that’s how it’s going to be down the stretch here.”

Jordan Eberle and Anthony Beauvillier had strikes in the penalties phase of the game to get the win.

Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves in the loss.

“They played well, we just have to give them credit,” Halak said. “We have to keep building our game. I thought we played pretty well tonight, just the result wasn’t there.”