Boston @ NY Islanders 6-3 - This was not what the Islanders had in mind for their final indoor game before playing at Yankee Stadium two nights from now in the third game of the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series. Carl Soderberg's goal with 32.7 seconds remaining in the second period broke a tie and the Boston Bruins beat the Islanders 6-3 on Monday night at Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders will play their next game outdoors at baseball's most famous stadium when they face off against their archrivals, the New York Rangers, on Wednesday night. The Islanders had no answer for the line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith. All three scored goals, Bergeron and Smith each had an assist, and Marchand assisted on each of his linemates' goals, as well as one by Zdeno Chara in the third period, Loui Eriksson also scored for the Bruins (33-15-3), who won their third in a row and avoided a season-series sweep by the Islanders. Kyle Okposo set up goals by Frans Nielsen and Michael Grabner before scoring one for the Islanders (21-26-8), who enter their outdoor game against the Rangers on a three-game losing streak (0-2-1). Chad Johnson made 34 saves and survived a barrage that saw the Islanders take 26 of their 37 shots in a 28:30 span of the first and second periods. Kevin Poulin stopped 17 of 18 Boston shots in the first period but struggled after that, finishing with 30 saves on 36 shots before being relieved by Evgeni Nabokov, who was activated off the injured list earlier in the day and stopped the only shot he faced. The victory moved the Bruins two points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the race for first place in the Atlantic Division. The game featured huge swings in play, with the Bruins finally taking control in the third period after the Islanders generated plenty of offense for nearly a period and a half. The Bruins came out firing, with Bergeron testing Poulin before the game was 10 seconds old. Boston took the game's first six shots and was outshooting the Islanders 11-1 before Eriksson opened the scoring at 7:47. Eriksson, a left-handed shooter, was standing on the goal line about 15 feet to the left of Poulin and despite apparently having no angle, picked the top corner on the far side for his sixth goal of the season. The shot differential climbed to 18-3 before an interference penalty to Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk at 12:10 gave the Islanders the game's first power play, and a wakeup call. New York had four shots during the power play without scoring, but the Islanders began to control the play and tied it at 15:29. Okposo took a pass from Nielsen at the top of the right circle, saw Nielsen cutting from the left to the top of the crease and put the puck on his stick. Johnson stopped Nielsen's deflection, but Nielsen picked up the rebound and roofed it for his career-best 18th of the season and a 1-1 tie. The rest of the period belonged to New York, which outshot the Bruins 2-0 during a Boston power play and cut the shots margin to 18-12. The Islanders had five of the first six shots in the second period, but it was the Bruins who scored to grab a 2-1 lead after a slick three-way passing play. Marchand was alone just off the left post to finish off a feed from Bergeron at 4:50 on a play that was started by Smith. New York tied the game for the second time at 8:20. Thomas Hickey drew a delayed penalty, but before the Bruins could touch the puck, he relayed it to Okposo, who found Grabner for a one-timer between the hash marks that beat Johnson cleanly for his ninth of the season. The Bruins went back in front at 12:31 during a delayed penalty. Smith showed terrific hand-eye coordination when he got his stick on the deflection of Shawn Thornton's pass and knocked it past Poulin for his 17th of the season, tying Marchand for the team lead. Boston had a chance to increase its lead when Okposo went off for cross-checking at 13:00. Instead, Okposo wound up scoring the tying goal when he stepped out of the penalty box just as Grabner blocked a shot and took off on a breakaway. They played catch until Okposo slid Grabner's feed into the net at 15:08 for his 23rd of the season. The Islanders pushed the tempo and failed to convert on a power play, then paid for it when Soderberg took a breakout pass from Milan Lucic and raced down right wing, cut past Hickey to the net, and flicked a shot past Poulin. Soderberg's seventh of the season gave the Bruins a 4-3 lead after 40 frantic minutes that saw seven goals and 56 shots. The Bruins killed off a penalty early in the third period before getting some breathing room at 2:17 thanks to a spectacular effort by Bergeron. He got to the slot, took a pass from Marchand and whipped a one-timer past Poulin an instant before he was flattened by defenseman Andrew MacDonald for his 14th of the season. Poulin's night ended a little less than six minutes later when he allowed an easy point shot by Chara to deflect into the net off his stick. The goal was Chara's 500th career point.
Columbus @ Carolina 2-3 - For most of Monday evening, the Blue Jackets were in control against the Hurricanes, riding a couple early goals and a strong defensive effort. Then came a stretch in the third period when the Hurricanes willed themselves to a win. Eric Staal scored twice 1:01 apart in the third period before Jordan Staal added the go-ahead score, to help the Hurricanes erase a 2-0 deficit en route to a 3-2 victory at PNC Arena. Columbus seized the lead early in the first period. Corey Tropp left a drop pass for Fedor Tyutin, whose shot rang of the post, leaving Derek MacKenzie to clean up the rebound at 2:25. For MacKenzie, it was his third straight game with a goal. Seventeen seconds later, RJ Umberger started and finished a play to push the lead to 2-0. After forcing Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk into a turnover, Umberger went to the net and followed Ryan Johansen's centering pass for his 14th of the season. Nick Foligno also earned an assist. The teams were held scoreless in the second period, with the Blue Jackets content to limit the quality of Carolina's shots. The Hurricanes held a decisive 17-8 advantage, but Columbus kept most of them near the perimeter. Then in the third, Carolina rode a wave of momentum. Eric Staal narrowed the gap to 2-1 at 11:18, taking a pass from Alexander Semin for his 13th goal. Moments later, Jiri Tlusty shoveled a pass from behind the net to Staal, who banged it home in front of Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Jordan Staal then went to work. After Jeff Skinner and Elias Lindholm moved the puck along the boards through the neutral zone, Staal made a nifty drag move in the slot and slipped a backhand shot inside the far post. Staal isn't exactly known for his crafty stick handling. The Blue Jackets recovered to get some quality chances on Anton Khudobin in the final minutes, but the Hurricanes goaltender calmly fended off the late shots. And what the Blue Jackets had done until then was significant. Although their offense waned as the game progressed, they put in a good night's work defensively; Brandon Dubinsky slid in front of Ruutu to snuff out a scoring chance from the slot. Matt Calvert went to his knees to block a close-in shot in the third period. The penalty killing unit fended off two Carolina power plays.
Edmonton @ Vancouver 4-2 - There haven't been many bright spots for the Oilers during another lost season. Jesse Joensuu provided one by snapping a personal slump and, in doing so, a team one against the Canucks at Rogers Arena on Monday. Joensuu ended a 14-game goal-scoring drought to put the Oilers ahead 2:20 into the third period, and David Perron completed his second career hat trick when he scored into an empty net with 1:09 left to lift the Oilers to a 4-2 win against the Canucks. Ryan Smyth won a battle in the left corner and fed a perfect pass to Joensuu, who was waiting atop the crease on the far side and slid the puck back between Roberto Luongo's legs as the Vancouver goalie slid toward him. It was Joensuu's third goal, his first since Dec. 10, and it sparked the Oilers to consecutive wins for the fourth time all season. The Oilers, who are last in the Western Conference, have three five-game losing streaks and two six-game losing skids, the most recent of which they ended with a 5-1 win against the Nashville Predators on Sunday night. Perron played 16 minutes in that lopsided win, and it left him feeling energized against the Canucks less than 24 hours later. Perron scored twice in the first period, then set a new single-season career high with his 22nd goal when he completed the hat trick with the empty-netter. Both of Perron's hat tricks have come against the Canucks, who almost picked him at the 2007 NHL Draft. The Canucks would have liked to send more pucks Bryzgalov's way, especially after the Oilers grabbed the lead early in the third period on Joensuu's goal. Luongo, who finished with 16 saves, made an incredible save six minutes into the third period to keep it close. He spun around and reached back over his head to swat a high, arcing deflection out of the air with his stick. But the Canucks couldn't take advantage, generating two shots through the first half of the third period before a surge in the final minutes. Schroeder got lucky bounces on both his goals. After offseason shoulder surgery was followed by a fractured foot his first preseason game and a broken ankle three games into his regular season, the skilled but undersized center was probably owed a couple of breaks. Alexandre Burrows, who hasn't scored in 22 games this season, hit the post with five minutes left. Bryzgalov robbed Schroeder from the slot a minute later, then got some help as Ryan Jones swept the loose puck into him as it trickled towards the goal line. Bryzgalov also robbed Dan Hamhuis on another great chance with 2:43 left and made two great saves on a Chris Higgins breakaway late in the second period, getting a glove on the initial shot and kicking out the left pad to deny the rebound attempt. Coming off a wild 5-4 overtime win against the Phoenix Coyotes the night before, the Canucks seemed content to play a wide-open game early, handing the Oilers a handful off odd-man rushes. Perron had a 2-on-1 feed hop over his stick in the opening minute, and Luongo stopped Taylor Hall on a 2-on-0 eight minutes in. Perron finally converted a little more than a minute later on a 2-on-1 with Sam Gagner after a neutral zone turnover, one-timing a cross-ice pass by Luongo's outstretched glove. Hall had a good chance from the slot blocked on another 3-on-2 about a minute later, and Schroeder tied it at 1-1 at 12:33 after a big hit by David Booth forced a turnover behind the Edmonton net. Schroeder's wraparound attempt went into the slot and the puck bounced off Oilers defenseman Corey Potter's skate before hitting the heel of Bryzgalov's stick, deflecting between the goalie's legs, and going into the net. Perron restored the Oilers' lead after Zach Kassian coughed up the puck just inside the blue line. Yakupov got around the defense and cut hard to the net, but lost the puck right into the slot for Perron, who fought off a Kevin Bieksa stick check and fired a quick shot that caught Luongo stranded on his goal line. Schroeder tied it 2:39 into the second period when he threw the puck at the net. It hit Potter's toe as he tried to fend off a charging Bieksa and went past Bryzgalov, who never dropped into the butterfly and looked as stunned as Schroeder that the puck went in. Joensuu put Edmonton ahead for good early in the third after Smyth won the puck battle.
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