Haggerty: Boston Bruins Have Found Their Weakness In Isles |BHN+

The Boston Bruins have found their kryptonite for this season and it’s most definitely the New York Islanders.

The B’s lost for the third time in three tries against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum when they dropped a 7-2 game on Thursday night where the roof completely caved in during the game’s final 20 minutes. When it was all said and done, it was the biggest margin of defeat for the Black and Gold this season.  The Bruins have broken many other teams in the third period this season already, but instead they were the fractured hockey team giving up five unanswered goals in a hockey game that was actually tied after two periods.

Essentially, Bruce Cassidy said the Islanders were beating the Bruins at their own game when it was all over. That hints at trouble if the trend continues and the Bruins come face-to-face with the Islanders in a divisional playoff round a few months down the road. But in this game, the straw that broke the camel’s back was a careless Trent Frederic turnover in front of the Boston net where Anthony Beauvillier stripped him and scored the go-ahead goal.

Falha ridícula do Trent Frederic no terceiro gol dos Islanders #NHLBruins #BrasilTemNHL
pic.twitter.com/wPCbA6hI3U

— Boston Strong Brasil (@BostonStrongBR) February 26, 2021

After that the Bruins buckled and broke down allowing three goals to the Islanders in a span of four minutes.

“We gave up a third goal where a young kid just got caught a little bit just not moving his feet. Then we pressed and made some mistakes. We gave their best players some time and space, and they buried us,” said Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy, who was then asked if the B’s had any sense of urgency in the third period. “Well, there wasn’t any. That’s a problem we don’t usually see with our club. We have some young players in the lineup, so we’re going to live with some mistakes.

“But I think Charlie [McAvoy] pressed a little there in the third. They’re a good defensive team and they don’t give you much. You have to have patience. We made some poor decisions on the fourth and fifth goals [allowed] that gave them easy odd-man rushes with their top players.”

The Capitals and the Penguins garner a lot of the attention as Boston’s biggest threats in the East Division based on their star power, and on their traditionally good teams over the last ten years. But the way things are shaping, the Islanders look like the most formidable opponent for the Bruins within the stacked East Division.