Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech checks Bruins right wing Ondrej Kase...

Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech checks Bruins right wing Ondrej Kase to the ice in the second period on May 10, 2021, in Boston. Credit: AP/Elise Amendola

The Islanders and the Bruins, their second-round playoff opponent, had an odd eight-game season series, with the first four games at Nassau Coliseum — all tied entering the third period — and then four in Boston.

The Islanders went 5-2-1, but the Bruins were the more dominant team after acquiring Taylor Hall from the Sabres on April 12, giving them a strong second line to support their "Perfection Line" of Patrice Bergeron between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.

Here’s a game-by-game look:

Jan. 18 at Nassau Coliseum: Islanders win, 1-0

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the lone goal at 15:51 of the third period in the home opener as Semyon Varlamov (27 saves) notched his second straight shutout to open the season. The Bruins’ Tuukka Rask stopped 16 shots.

Feb. 13 at Nassau Coliseum: Islanders win, 4-2

Mathew Barzal, on the power play, and Pageau scored third-period goals against Rask (38 saves). Varlamov made 28 saves. The Islanders handed the Bruins their only two regulation losses through their first 14 games.

Feb. 25 at Nassau Coliseum: Islanders win, 7-2

Anthony Beauvillier opened a five-goal third period that also included a shorthanded goal from Pageau against Jaroslav Halak (30 saves), making his first start against his former team since joining the Bruins. Varlamov stopped 34 shots.

March 9 at Nassau Coliseum: Islanders win in shootout, 2-1

Beauvillier scored the shootout winner after Brock Nelson’s second-period power-play goal tied it against Halak (26 saves). Varlamov made 32 saves.

March 25 at Boston: Islanders win in OT, 4-3

Beauvillier scored an overtime winner for the second straight game after Rask exited following the first period with an upper-body injury and the Islanders rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the second period. Oliver Wahlstrom gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 17:04 of the third period only to have Anders Bjork tie it 54 seconds later. Varlamov made 29 saves, while Halak had 17 in relief for the Bruins.

April 15 at Boston: Bruins win, 4-1

Varlamov set a season high with 41 saves, but the Bruins took a 2-0 lead in the first period as they outchanced the Islanders, 33-11, in an effort coach Barry Trotz called "unacceptable." Rask finished with 22 saves. Travis Zajac scored his first goal as an Islander, but Hall’s third-period goal was his first with the Bruins.

April 16 at Boston: Bruins win, 3-0

Rookie goalie Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves in his fifth career start for his first shutout. The game turned as Pastrnak scored with 2.4 seconds left in the first against Ilya Sorokin (25 saves) and Hall scored 47 seconds into the second period.

May 10 at Boston: Bruins win in OT, 3-2

Hall scored on the power play in the first period and then added the overtime winner against Sorokin, who replaced Varlamov when he left after two periods with an unspecified strain. Rask stopped 16 shots.

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