BOSTON – Taylor Hall scored his first goal for Boston and goaltender Tuukka Rask stopped 22 shots to earn his 300th career victory — and his first since February — as the Bruins dominated the New York Islanders and won 4-1 on Thursday night.
Rask had played just once since March 7 because of a back injury. His teammates gave him an easy one, outshooting the Islanders 45-23 — including a 23-7 first period — and getting two goals from Brad Marchand and one from Craig Smith to win their second straight game.
Travis Zajac scored his first goal for New York, and Islanders goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov made 41 saves. The Islanders had won five of their previous six games. They trail the first-place Washington Capitals by two points in the East Division.
Boston, which won the NHL Presidents Trophy as the league’s No. 1 team during the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, solidified its hold on the fourth and final playoff berth in the East, but are only four points ahead of the fifth-place New York Rangers.
The Islanders and Bruins meet again in Boston tonight.