Kyle Palmieri’s natural hat trick in the first period lifted the New York Islanders to a lead that they would never relinquish in a 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night in Elmont, N.Y.
Palmieri scored all three of his goals in the first 12:19 of the game and added an assist for the third hat trick and second four-point game of his career. His hat trick was the Islanders’ first since April 2022.
Anders Lee had a goal and an assist while Brock Nelson also scored for New York, which has won three straight.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Bo Horvat each dished out a pair of assists to round out the Islanders’ offense, which offered goaltender Ilya Sorokin (22 saves) plenty of support in the win.
Marc McLaughlin lit the lamp in his first NHL game this season and Linus Ullmark made 21 saves for the Bruins, who had a seven-game points streak (3-0-4) snapped. Boston is two points back of the first-place Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division.
New York finished with a 26-23 shot advantage — despite recording only two shots during a scoreless third period — while going 1-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Palmieri potted New York’s thirnd shot of the game at 3:32, taking Noah Dobson’s feed down the right wing for a wrister that beat Ullmark past his glove. Dobson has recorded points in 10 consecutive home games.
The Islanders needed just 16 seconds of a power play to double their lead as Palmieri slipped home the loose rebound of a Horvat shot from the bumper position at 5:27.
Palmieri completed his hat trick at 12:19, slipping down the slot and right to the net to bang in an open shot. Ullmark made a kick save on Ryan Pulock’s attempt from the right circle, leading to a rebound for the goal.
Lee continued New York’s scoring surge just 46 seconds into the middle frame, completing a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with Pageau and Palmieri.
The Isles extended their lead to 5-0 when Nelson buried Horvat’s centering pass from behind the end line at 10:24.
Boston finally got on the board at the 14:30 mark as Charlie McAvoy joined the rush and hit McLaughlin with a perfect pass to the left crease that was shot past Sorokin.
Bruins forward Pavel Zacha did not return for the second period and was ultimately ruled out due to a lower-body injury.
–Field Level Media
