Oct 10, 2009 10:16 pm US/Eastern
From Near Shutout To Shootout Loss For Islanders
Top Pick Tavares Scores 1 Of 3 Second-Period Goals For Isles, But Boston Scores 3 In Final 8:01 To Force OT
BOSTON (AP) ―
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John Tavares has a goal and two assists in his first two NHL games.
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
Blake Wheeler and Marc Savard scored in the shootout after the Boston Bruins rallied for three goals in the final 8:01 of regulation to beat the New York Islanders 4-3 on Saturday night.
Jon Sim, Radek Martinek and John Tavares scored second-period goals for the Islanders, who were in position for the franchise's first shutout in Boston.
Boston, playing its longest homestand to open a season, improved to 2-3-0.
The Islanders fell to 0-0-3. They lost their opener in a shootout and their second in overtime.
New York has lost its last seven games against the Bruins -- all four last season and two the one prior -- with its last victory coming Nov. 24, 2007.
After Savard beat Dwayne Roloson with a backhander under the crossbar to make it 2-1 in the shootout, Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask made a left pad save on Kyle Okposo to end it.
Mark Savard, Byron Bitz and Matt Hunwick scored the late third-period goals to send it to overtime.
Both teams had good chances in overtime.
Savard scored Boston's first goal with 8:01 to play.
Bitz then scored on backhander through a screen from the slot, making it 3-2 with 4:25 to play.
Hunwick completed the comeback with a wrister that sneaked through a crowd from the left point and behind Roloson with 2:34 to play.
Before the Bruins made their late charge, there was a smattering of boos from the near sellout crowd.
New York had broke in front 1-0 on Sim's power-play score 4:04 into the second when he collected the rebound of Okposo's shot at the edge of the crease and lifted it over Rask's right shoulder.
Martinek beat Rask over the left shoulder from the right circle, making it 2-0 at 12:43.
Tavares made it 3-0 just 3:05 later when he collected a loose puck at center ice, skated down right wing on a 2-on-1 break and slipped a wrister inside the near post.
Rask, making his first start of the season, made 35 saves.
The teams played a chippy first period, which may have been an indication of frustration they were both feeling from their sluggish season starts.
Boston killed a two-man power play advantage of 1:37 in the opening period, with Rask dropping to make a couple of nice pad saves on shots from close range. Okposo had a pair from just outside the crease.
NOTES: Boston D Dennis Wideman skated off the ice favoring his left shoulder and headed straight to the locker room after crashing into the boards late in the second period. He did not return in the third period. ... Boston plays the final game of its homestand Monday against Colorado before going on a two-game road trip to Dallas and Phoenix. ... The Islanders started 0 for 4 on the power play before Sim's goal. ... Rask blanked the Rangers on Jan. 31 in his only start last season. ... New York hasn't shutout the Bruins in the teams' 68 meetings in Boston.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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