Talking Points: Boston Bruins ‘D’ Powers Them To Isles Victory

ELMONT, NY – Here are the Talking Points from the Boston Bruins 4-1 win over the New York Islanders at USB Arena on Wednesday night.

GOLD STAR: Derek Forbort isn’t a guy that gets a ton of the limelight, but he was a big-time factor in Wednesday night’s win at both ends of the ice. Forbort scored the game-winner as the weak side defenseman playing down low in Jim Montgomery’s system, so he was able to jump to the net for the loose puck rebound after Pavel Zacha smoked a shot off the crossbar that gave Semyon Varlamov all kinds of trouble. It ended up being the game-winning goal midway through the second period. At the other end, Forbort blocked six shots and threw four hits and was playing the physical role to a ‘T’ once the B’s had a lead midway through the game.

Zacha hits the post, but Derek F̶o̶r̶b̶o̶r̶t̶ Scorebort crashes the net to put it home. pic.twitter.com/4OwflcB6wo

— Patrick Donnelly (@PatDonn12) January 19, 2023

BLACK EYE: Paging Mat Barzal. Zero shots on net and a minus-2 for the Islanders center, who was a nonfactor offensively and a player that the Bruins took advantage of defensively when he was on the ice. Barzal wasn’t alone among Islanders players that didn’t have much of an impact on the game, but Barzal is usually an offensively explosive player that at least puts the Black and Gold back on their heels. One thing Barzal needs to do as he continues to develop into a star player is becoming a factor in games like Wednesday night when he didn’t have his good skating legs or effective offensive game.

TURNING POINT: The Islanders had a lead on the Bruins after a Zach Parise first period goal and had the Bruins on the run for parts of the second period. Then the scales tipped in the other direction after Matt Grzelcyk connected with Charlie McAvoy for a point blast that tied things up in the middle period. Once the Bruins had evened up the score, they added a go-ahead goal shortly after and once again separated from another team in the third period where their depth and experience has taken over all season.

HONORABLE MENTION: Charlie McAvoy is always down for a homecoming on Long Island when he comes home to play the Islanders, and on Wednesday night he kicked off Boston’s comeback with a heavy scoring blast from the point that gave his friends and family something to cheer about. McAvoy finished with a goal and two points along with four shots on net in 19:37 of ice time along with two blocked shots. Both Hampus Lindholm and Derek Forbort finished with more ice time than McAvoy – as the B’s had to kill off a few Isles power plays – but the Bruins top defenseman was a big-time factor at a time when the B’s need more out of their defensemen.

Charlie McAvoy, the Long Island kid, ties it 1-1 with a rocket. Great sequence from Grzelcyk to set up McAvoy. pic.twitter.com/vsHHa7gwDM

— Patrick Donnelly (@PatDonn12) January 19, 2023

BY THE NUMBERS: 25 – the number of blocked shots for the Boston Bruins versus 10 for the Islanders as the B’s players clearly emptied the bucket for the two points.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “We’re hoping all the X-rays come back good.” –Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery talking about Patrice Bergeron after he took a deflected David Pastrnak slap shot off the nose in the third period. Bergeron returned to the game, but there were still tests to be done postgame after he quickly got back into the game.

Patrice Bergeron’s nose looks banged up after the puck to the face. Dude is a warrior to be back on the bench and the ice following the injury. pic.twitter.com/glvrwWvkyu

— Short Handed Takes: Bruins 🅿️odcast 🎙 (@ShortHandedTks) January 19, 2023