Boston Bruins: 4th line dominates in 5-1 victory over Islanders

The Boston Bruins completely dominated the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.

The Boston Bruins continued their great play as they entered the new year. Their first game of 2018 was a roaring success as they defeated the New York Islanders 5-1.

Danton Heinen kicked off the scoring for the Bruins midway through the first. Riley Nash took the faceoff and the play must have been to get the puck to Heinen. Nash won it cleanly and the puck went right to Heinen and he rifled a wrist shot and scored his 10th goal of the season.

Then in the second period with the game tied at one the Bruins first line struck. Patrice Bergeron made a great play behind the net to grab the puck out of mid-air and then somehow score. It was a crazy angle and a crazy play altogether. It was Bergeron’s 12th goal of the season. Brad Marchand got his 18th assist of the season on the play, but also the assist was his 200th of his career.

The scoring didn’t stop for Marchand. Halfway through the third period. After a mishap by the Islanders, the Bruins had a 2 on 1 chance. David Pastrnak set up Marchand and “Marchy” sent a beautiful wrist shot past Jaroslav Halak for his 16th goal of the season.

4th line stars

The game was a great performance from the 4th line. The line finished with a +5 rating and scored two goals on the night. Tim Schaller scored his 5th goal of the season by taking advantage of a rebound. Sean Kuraly used Halak like a backboard in basketball and rifled his pass off the goaltender and Schaller jammed it home.

Then a few minutes later Noel Acciari put away the game with an empty-net goal. It was his 5th goal of the season.

The 4th line has been performing great recently. Their high energy and hard-hitting style of the play really bolsters the team. You could see it in the praise they received after the game.

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"“Heavy down low, forced their D to defend us and takes pucks from us,” said Bruce Cassidy. “It takes a toll on a team after a while. We saw that going into the third. Good for them and obviously the other lines too but you just saw more out of that line. I was happy for them to get a goal late too to get rewarded.”"

"“They give us the energy,” said Tuukka Rask after the game. “A lot of times they play in the o-zone and create havoc there. They’re just buzzing around and making hits and making plays. And they are getting rewarded too… It’s great to see. You need four lines in this league nowadays to contribute and lately we’ve had that.”"

Tuukka shines once again

Tuukka Rask has been playing fantastic between the pipes. He stopped 25 shots on the night and continues to show his dominance night in and night out. In his last 12 games, Rask boasts a 11-0-1 record with a 1.20 GAA and a .956 save percentage. Rask is playing out of his mind and was named the NHL’s star of the month for December.

Next: Boston Bruins: Why Rick Middleton should be a Hall-of-Famer

The Bruins seem to be on a roll. They are in 4th place in the Eastern Conference and are only 3 points out of 2nd place. The Boston Bruins look to continue their recent scoring outburst against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.

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