BRUINS 3, ISLANDERS 2

Mark Streit tallied his 200th career NHL point and Matt Moulson continued to add to his team lead in goals with his 23rd but it wasn’t enough to get the Islanders a victory as the Boston Bruins defeated the Islanders 3-2.  Marc Savard tallied the game-winning goal for the Bruins to go along with tallies from Milan Lucic and David Krejci.  Josh Bailey had the Islanders’ first goal of the game.  The Islanders record drops to 26-31-8, keeping them in 12th place in the Eastern Conference with 60 points. 

With less than two minutes to play in the opening stanza, Boston opened the scoring on a goal from Lucic.  The 6’4 Bruins’ winger collected a loose puck in the high slot and snapped a shot high over the glove of Islanders’ starting goalie Dwayne Roloson for the 1-0 lead.  Dennis Wideman and Shawn Thornton had the assists on Lucic’s sixth goal of the season. 

Bailey evened the score for the Islanders, about two minutes into the second period.  Both Islander assistant captains, Streit and Kyle Okposo picked up assists on the tally, Bailey’s 14th of the season.  Okposo started the play by dishing the puck to Streit in the right circle.  Streit leaned into a shot from the high slot that Bruins’ starter, Tim Thomas tried to smother but the puck slid under his pads and Bailey was there to tap it over the goal-line to tie the score 1-1. 

The Bruins regained their one goal lead at 2-1 when Krejci completed a pretty give-and-go play with Miroslav Satan.  Mark Stuart sent a cross-ice pass to former Islander Miroslav Satan in the far circle.  Satan sent the puck back to the far post where Krejci was cutting across to tap it past Roloson’s right pad for his 12th tally of the season. 

Savard made it 3-1 in favor of the Bruins when he capitalized on a bad bounce behind the Islander goal, while Boston was on the power-play.  Zdeno Chara feathered a pass to Patrice Bergeron at the left point where he one-timed a shot that sailed over the goal.  The puck hit the panel and bounced right back out to the slot where Mark Savard tapped his tenth goal of the season past Roloson, who was positioned to play the bounce out from the right post. 

In the third, Moulson made it a one-goal deficit for the Islanders when he snapped his team-leading 23rd goal of the season.  Frans Nielsen won the puck away from a Boston defender in the right corner and walked up the wall, opening a passing lane to Moulson in the high slot.  Moulson took the pass and snapped it inside the far post and past Thomas to make it 3-2 Boston. 

Roloson finished the game with 31 saves on 34 shots while Thomas earned the win, turning aside 37 shots for the Bruins.  Both teams finished 1-for-2 on the power-play. 

The Islanders will return to action on Tuesday when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers from the Wachovia Arena at 7:30 p.m.  On Thursday, the Islanders will return home to face-off against the St. Louis Blues for the second time this season at 7 p.m.  For tickets or information on how to receive group discounted pricing, contact the Islanders’ front office at (516) 501-6700 or e-mail groupsales@newyorkislanders.com. 

3 Stars

1. Tim Thomas – Makes 37 saves to earn his 15th win of the season
2. Marc Savard – Scores the game-winning goal
3. Matt Moulson – Adds to his team lead in goals with his 23rd of the season
Honorable Mention: Mark Streit – Plays 28:15 and records his 200th career point

Afternoon Contests: The Bruins will play the most afternoon games this season of any NHL squad.  This afternoon’s game between the two teams was their 14th of a total of 19 mid-day match-ups. 

Satan Returns:  For the first time this season, former Islander Miroslav Satan returned to the Coliseum, but this time as a Boston Bruin.  Satan was skating at the Islanders’ practice facility, Iceworks in Syosset earlier this year to stay in shape to skate for Team Slovakia at the 2010 Winter Olympics.  Satan was then signed for the remainder of the season by the Bruins prior to the Break. 

200: Mark Streit tallied his 200th career NHL point on Josh Bailey's goal in the second period. 

Comeau Update: Blake Comeau took a hit from behind in the second period when Michael Ryder drove the Islander forward into the boards from behind.  Ryder was given a five-minute major and a game-misconduct.  Comeau did not return to the game due to facial lacerations and precautionary reasons, but is expected to be fine. 

Lineups

ISLANDERS

Forwards
12 Josh Bailey – 51 Frans Nielsen – 21 Kyle Okposo
26 Matt Moulson – 91 John Tavares – 10 Richard Park
57 Blake Comeau – 13 Rob Schremp – 28 Tim Jackman
16 Jon Sim – 93 Doug Weight – 20 Sean Bergenheim

Defensemen
2 Mark Streit – 8 Bruno Gervais
44 Freddy Meyer – 42 Dylan Reese
56 Dustin Kohn – 38 Jack Hillen

Goalies
30 Dwayne Roloson (starter)
43 Martin Biron

BRUINS

Forwards
20 Daniel Paille – 91 Marc Savard – 73 Michael Ryder
16 Marco Sturm – 37 Patrice Bergeron – 28 Mark Recchi
81 Miroslav Satan – 46 David Krejci – 26 Blake Wheeler
17 Milan Lucic – 27 Steve Begin – 22 Shawn Thornton

Defensemen
44 Dennis Seidenberg – 33 Zdeno Chara
45 Mark Stuart – 6 Dennis Wideman
48 Matt Hunwick – 55 Johnny Boychuk

Goalies
30 Tim Thomas (starter)
32 Dany Sabourin