Searching for their third win in a row and fifth straight at home, the New York Islanders faced the Boston Bruins, just a week after losing 5-2 in Boston. The UBS Arena fans were alive and excited to support their home team.
Neither team was able to keep control of the puck early in the first period, with quite a bit of dancing up and down the ice. Kyle MacLean found a stretch pass in the Bruins’ zone, but blew a tire and could not pass the puck, as the rest of the team was on a change. The Bruins recorded the first official shot on goal, an easy save for Ilya Sorokin. After a bit more back and forth, the Bruins gained control of the next few minutes of play.
Mat Barzal had the Islanders’ first real chance of the game, but he was squished in front of Boston goaltender, Jeremy Swayman. The Islanders found some zone time, but overall the first half of the frame was rather disjointed for both teams.
Pavel Zacha found himself with a lane in front of Sorokin, but the shot was soft: another easy save for the Islanders’ goaltender. With about five minutes remaining, the Islanders finally registered their first shots on goal. The first period ended with an unsuccessful chance by Kyle Palmieri. The frame was quiet, with only ten total shots.
Early in the second, Nikita Zadorov went to the box for tripping Anders Lee. New York had a few good chances in the first minute of the power play, including a point blank shot from Jonathan Drouin. The Islanders were unsuccessful on the man advantage. With the shots even at seven, the Bruins took the puck into the Islanders’ zone. Bo Horvat was able to avoid a penalty after knocking down David Pastrnak.
Off an offensive zone face-off for the Islanders, a chippy pass from Casey Cizikas to Anthony Duclair gave the Islanders a one goal lead at 5:11. The secondary assist went to MacLean, his first of the season.
Barzal was then penalized for holding against Marat Khusnutdinov. A long possession by Pastrnak sent the puck to Viktor Arvidsson, who attempted to sneak the puck under Sorokin’s pads. The Bruins did not give up, once again trying to stuff the puck past Sorokin, this time with Morgan Geekie having the chance. Despite the Bruins’ best efforts, the Islanders were able to kill the Barzal penalty.
Down behind Swayman, Zadorov took down Matthew Schaefer—after multiple attempts to cross-check the rookie—along the boards, sending gloves and helmets flying. Once again, the Islanders were showing that Schaefer was not to be messed with. Duclair jumped on Zadorov, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling back as Anders Lee ran towards his front. Head coach, Patrick Roy “love[d] that [the team] jumped in.”
ZADOROV GOES AFTER SCHAEFER AND CHAOS ENSUES pic.twitter.com/fgR7ToRdOj
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 5, 2025
Arvidsson served the second minor for the Bruins, giving the Islanders a two minute power play. The Islanders were unable to score, but forced the Bruins to ice the puck after the kill, keeping tired skaters on the ice.
Following that chaos, the Bruins were able to gain some zone time. A weird pass across by Arvidsson was kicked into the goal by Lee, tying the game for the Bruins.
As the Boston goal was being announced, Barzal skated past two Bruins into their zone and passed the puck to Horvat, who was all alone to the stick side of Swayman, beating him easily and giving the Islanders their lead back. Horvat is “happy to be contributing offensively.”
The game continued to be scrappy after that scrum caused by Zadorov. With under five minutes in the second, there was a scrum in front of Swayman, but no penalties were assessed. However, shortly after, Lee was sent off for cross-checking, although it was more of a leaping hip check, at 16:35. A shot by Geekie drew Sorokin out of place, sending Arvidsson into the crease, and allowing Zacha to wrist the shot past the Islanders’ goaltender. The Islanders’ coaching staff did not challenge the goal, for those wondering.
Tied at two, Scott Mayfield sent Michael Eyssimont to the ground with a cross-check just outside of the trapezoid, giving the Bruins another power play. The Bruins lost control of the puck, allowing Schaefer an easy shot on Swayman, who was able to save the attempt and cover the rebound. At the end of the penalty and period, Mayfield ran out of the box, almost earning a chance, but the Bruins’ defense was able to recover before he could take the shot.
The third period was off to an okay start, with both teams trying their best. Schaefer was sent off for a cross-check against Mark Kastelic at 2:56. After an unsuccessful power play for the Bruins, Schaefer ran out of the box, waited for the puck at the blue line, sent it to Horvat, who gave the Islanders the one goal lead at 5:05.
The next five minutes were relatively quiet. At the halfway mark, the Bruins were able to muster up a few shot attempts and a quick snap from Fraser Minten, but Sorokin stood his ground. The Bruins continued to exert pressure in the Islanders’ zone, still down a goal.
With six minutes remaining in regulation, the Bruins regained a higher shot total, but still found themselves trailing. A bouncing puck all around Sorokin found Minten in front of the net, who took a shot as he was being shoved to the ground by Emil Heineman. The puck rebounded and found Khusnutdinov, who scored on a sprawled out Sorokin.
With only 1:44 remaining, Charlie McAvoy was sent off for high-sticking. The Islanders could not convert though, sending the game to overtime.
The Bruins controlled much of the overtime period, although Barzal found a good chance in the Bruins’ zone.
Simon Holmstrom took the first shot, an easy pad save for Swayman. Casey Middlestadt was stopped by Sorokin. Horvat’s shot hit the post. Khusnutdinov lifted his shot over Sorokin in the third round. Drouin missed his shot on Swayman, leaving the Bruins with the win.
The New York Islanders were disappointed with the singular point, but will look to bounce back on Friday, November 7th against the Minnesota Wild.
