(MENAFN- Gulf Times) David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall scored in a 50-second span bridging the first and second periods Friday night and goalie Jeremy Swayman recorded his first NHL shutout as the host Boston Bruins completed a two-game sweep of the New York Islanders with a 3-0 win.
Curtis Lazar added an empty-netter with 1:12 left for the Bruins, who have won three straight since acquiring Hall and Lazar from the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
The win Friday, coupled with the Bruins' 4-1 victory over the Islanders on Thursday, pulled fourth-place Boston within four points of
second-place New York in the East Division.
The Bruins extended their lead over the idle New York Rangers to six points in the race for the final playoff spot in the East.
Swayman, pressed into duty earlier this month with starting goalie Tuukka Rask battling an upper-body injury and Jaroslav Halak sidelined due to Covid-19 protocol, stopped 25 shots as the Bruins killed off five Islanders power plays.
Goalie Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves for the Islanders, who have lost back-to-back games by multiple goals for the first time this season.
The Bruins took the lead in the waning seconds of the first when Patrice Bergeron fired the puck to Mike Reilly, who was stationed behind the net.
Reilly tucked a pass through the legs of Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield to Pastrnak, who flicked a shot off the top post and into the net with 2.4 seconds left. A nifty exchange between Hall and David Krejci capped an end-to-end rush in the first minute of the second period.
Hall took a pass from Steven Kampfer and passed to Krejci as Mayfield tried picking off the puck. Hall then sprinted ahead of Mayfield as Krejci passed into the crease, where Hall got his stick on the puck and fired it past Sorokin 47 seconds after faceoff.
It was the second goal in as many games for Hall, who had just two goals in 37 games for the Sabres.
The Islanders pulled Sorokin with under two minutes left but didn't mount a serious threat before Lazar scored the empty-netter.
Streaking Golden Knights
shut out Ducks
William Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson both scored in the first five minutes of the second period and the visiting Vegas Golden Knights extended their winning streak to five games with a 4-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
Goaltender Robin Lehner made 16 saves in his first shutout of the season as Vegas won for the fifth time in its past six road games and improved to 3-0-0 on a four-game trip to Los Angeles and Anaheim.
Nicolas Roy and Brayden McNabb also had goals for Vegas, while Mark Stone had two assists to give him a team-leading 34.
The second-place Golden Knights inched within two points of the West Division-leading Colorado Avalanche, who had their next three games postponed because of Covid-19 concerns.
Playing in front of fans for the first time in more than a year, the Ducks hardly gave the crowd of 2,000 anything to cheer about as Anaheim's modest two-game winning streak came to an end.
Ducks goaltender John Gibson had 47 saves in his return after Anthony Stolarz played the previous two games. Gibson saved a penalty shot by Stephenson with 5:27 to play. After a scoreless first period in which Vegas had a 15-6 advantage on shots, the Golden Knights needed just nine seconds of the second period to get on the scoreboard.
Karlsson picked up a loose puck in front of the Anaheim crease, after teammate Reilly Smith lost possession in traffic, and scored his 11th of the season into a wide-open goal.
Just over four minutes later, Stephenson made it 2-0 with his 10th of the season. Stone fed a charging Stephenson just inside the blue line, and the center flipped a shot inside the left post and past Gibson.
Roy completed a three-goal second period for the Golden Knights when he scored with 22
seconds remaining before the second intermission.
Roy stole the puck from the Ducks' Max Comtois, moved in on goal and beat Gibson over his right shoulder. It was Roy's fourth goal of the season.
McNabb's second of the campaign came at the eight-minute mark of the third period off assists from Stephenson and Stone.
The teams will complete a two-game set Sunday at Anaheim. Vegas can move into a tie for first place in the West with a victory.
Results
Bruins 3-0 Islanders
Golden Knights 4-0 Ducks
Canadiens 2-1 Flames
Wild 3-2 Sharks
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