Bruins/Islanders: Game 5

Ahead of game 5 of the Bruins Islanders playoff series, we saw the reinsertion of Karson Kuhlman in favor of the struggling Jake Debrusk. An attempt to add a spark to the bottom 6 forward group. In the first period, the Bruins did exactly that, playing the body and making life difficult for Islanders' defenders. So much so that, almost a minute and a half into the game, Pastrnak makes up for the glaring miss last game, putting home a slapper from beyond the point to give the Bruins the early 1-0 lead. The scrappy affair continues. Late in the period, Kuraly takes a soft slashing penalty that leads to the game-tying Islanders' goal with a little more than a minute left. Slightly more than four and a half minutes into the second period, the Bruins take a slew of bad penalties, the first of which results in Kyle Palmeri standing out front putting the Islanders ahead 2-1, again on the powerplay. About three minutes later, Brad Marchand finds the Bruins equalizer, a highlight-reel goal, skating through the Islanders' defense and across the crease, stuffing it in at the far end to tie the game at two. The exuberance is short-lived as the Bruins have a series of defensive collapses resulting in the next three unanswered Islanders' goals, 5-2 Isles. To start the third period, after giving up four goals on sixteen shots, Tuukka Rask is pulled in favor of rookie netminder, Jeremy Swayman. Three and half minutes into the third period, while on a powerplay of their own, the Bruins start to chip away on a feed to Pastrnak at the center of the left dot, a slapshot finding the back of the net, 5-3. More than half the period later, David Krecji furthers the Bruins effort on a backhand shot from Mike Riley, which Islanders goaltender Varlamov originally thought he had secured to inch it closer 5-4. The comeback attempt proves futile as the Bruins put a barrage of shots on goal as the clock expires to zero. The Islanders take a commanding 3-2 lead in the series. I think coach Cassidy's comments after the game pretty much summed up how most everyone felt about the officiating outside of Long Island. Heartbreak ridge Wednesday night.