Islanders Beat Bruins in Shootout for Sixth Straight Victory

It required a shootout, but the New York Islanders won their sixth straight game in a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on March 9th. With the win, the 1st place Islanders (16-6-4, 36 points) maintained a two point lead over the Washington Capitals (15-4-4) in the East. Washington beat New Jersey in overtime to keep pace. The Islanders got off to a slow start this season, and were 3-4-2 at the end of January, before surging in the next five and a half weeks and landing in first place.

The Islanders aren’t overwhelming on offense, averaging 2.85 goals per game, 17th out of 31 teams. But the New York goalies have been excellent, allowing just 2.15 goals per game, third best in the NHL behind Tampa Bay (2.08) and Vegas (2.09). Semyon Varlamov is 12-4-3 with a 2.03 goals against average with three shutouts, and there isn’t much of a dropoff with backup Ilya Sorokin (4-2-1, 2.14 GAA and two shutouts).

There is a possible problem on the horizon for New York. Although the Islanders are 11-0-2 at home—the only team that hasn’t had a regulation loss yet at home—they are just 5-6-2 on the road. The Islanders have beaten the Bruins all four times they’ve played, but all of those were at home and they have four left at Boston. All of the other division leaders are well over .500 on the road, as is every second and third place team except one. Winning the East as well as a deep run in the playoffs may hinge on bringing that road record up.