— x - New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) June 6, 2021
The Islanders had an okay start to the game, trading some chances with the Bruins early on. It wasn’t an excellent first period as they gave up some good opportunities at the end of the frame but it was certainly better than some of their starts in previous games of the series. They were outshot 11-7 in the frame but the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes.
The Bruins would open the scoring on the power play a few minutes into the second period, as David Krejci tapped in a loose puck to give the Bruins the lead. The Islanders would tie it under three minutes later though, with Mathew Barzal making a great individual effort to keep control of the puck under pressure and wait until he could make a pass to Kyle Palmieiri at the front of the net, who beat Tuukka Rask to tie the game at 1-1, heading into the third period.
From there, the Islanders were really able to take over and play their game. They limited the Bruins to just eight shots in the third period with fewer quality chances than they allowed in the first and second periods.
With seven minutes to go, Mathew Barzal gave the Islanders their first lead of the game, batting a puck out of the air and past Rask. New York would then add two empty net goals to secure their win and tie the series.
This was a key win for New York. The Islanders had a really strong third period and they did a better job of limiting chances against Semyon Varlamov. Game 4 was also one of Mathew Barzal’s best games of the postseason, after a somewhat disappointing playoffs thus far. He was controlling the puck more in Boston’s end and was a huge factor in New York’s win.
The Islanders will look to take their first lead of the series tomorrow night in Game 5.
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It's now down to a three-game series - do you like the Islanders' chances of advancing?