Bruins defeat Islanders, 5-2

BOSTON - The last two empty-net goals for the Bruins weren't nearly as devastating as the first.

With 5:20 left in the second period and the score tied, Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro made his move, streaking toward the left circle to pounce on a loose puck. Bad move. Brad Marchand was waiting.

Marchand squarely absorbed the clearing attempt, darted past DiPietro to collect the puck along the end boards and easily sent a backhander into an open net to give the Bruins the lead.

Boston's Michael Ryder scored an insurance goal in the third and the Bruins added two empty-netters in the final 1:03, but Marchand's shorthanded goal proved to be the turning point in the Islanders' 5-2 loss at TD Garden last night.

It was the Islanders' 18th defeat in the past 19 games and tied a franchise record - 12 games in 1972-73 - for most consecutive games without a power-play goal. The Islanders had three unsuccessful attempts last night, extending their streak to 39 in the 12 games and 41 overall.

"There's a small margin of error in this league. It's a play here and a play there," said DiPietro, who made 32 saves in his first start since a 6-5 loss to the Rangers a week earlier. "Unfortunately, that clearing attempt on the power play cost us."

DiPietro's decision gift-wrapped a 2-1 Bruins lead at 14:40. A rebound of John Tavares' shot had been sent up the boards to set up Marchand. "That was tough,'' Tavares said, "because I should've put that one in and they went down on the other end and scored."

SEE PHOTOSTop 10 Islanders of all-time

Rob Schremp scored at 16:27 of the third period to bring the Islanders within 3-2 before the empty-net goals by Milan Lucic (1:03 left) and Patrice Bergeron (five seconds to play).

Perhaps the most frustrating element of DiPietro's gaffe was the fact that he kept his team in the game for most of the night.

"He was our best player," coach Jack Capuano said. "The first period, they could've been up two or three goals. He played extremely well."

The game took on an all-too-familiar feel with 8:07 left to play in the first. With 24 seconds left on the Islanders' 37th straight unsuccessful power-play attempt, Mark Eaton took a holding penalty to negate their first man-advantage. Then things got worse.

Trying to clear the puck on the penalty-kill, DiPietro airmailed it over the glass for a delay-of-game whistle that put the Islanders down two men for 33 seconds. Shortly after the Islanders killed off the first power play, defenseman Radek Martinek took Zdeno Chara's slap shot on the left wrist.

Three seconds after Martinek was helped off the ice by trainer Garrett Timms (he returned in the next period), the Bruins took a 1-0 lead right off the draw when Lucic's shot hit the left post and glanced off DiPietro's right skate at 14:00.

The Islanders tied the score at 3:41 of the second period on Frans Nielsen's second shorthanded penalty-shot goal of the season. He also scored one against the Flyers on Oct. 30. After being tripped up by Bergeron on a breakaway, Nielsen resorted to his trusty backhand to beat Tuukka Rask.

With eight minutes to play in the third period, Tavares was hit in the right elbow by Chara's shot but returned shortly after a visit to the trainer's room. "I was pretty sore when I came back in, so we'll take another look at it tomorrow," he said. "I'm just glad the tests came back negative."