Bruins Fall 2-1 to Isles on Military Appreciation Night

Photo: NHL Bruins

Quite possibly one of the best games of the season, the Bruins hosted military appreciation night during their Thursday night tilt with the New York Islanders. The Bruins took the ice for warm ups in specialty camouflage jerseys which will go to auction to benefit the USO along with all in game fundraising. Bruins players Nathan Horton, David Krejci and Tuukka Rask donated $15,000 worth of tickets to service men and woman and their families for the game.

After a hard earned win in New Jersey on Wednesday night with the help of Anton Khudobin between the pipes, Boston looked to goaltender Tuukka Rask to protect the crease. While the Islanders put their faith in Evengi Nabakov on the opposing end.

It’s been an injury prone season for all teams, but Boston has endured it’s casualties as of late. Forward Brad Marchand, who holds 16 goals this season is just another victim of a concussion. Perpetrator Anton Volvhenkov of the Devils  was sentenced to a 4 game suspension after his hit to Marchand’s head  on Wednesday night. Marchand is the latest offensive loss for Boston after forward Patrice Bergeron suffered a concussion last week.

The first period found the Islanders Josh Bailey with the lone goal of the period at 19:39. The second period had a sluggish start for Boston, who finally found their stride at 3:41. Seguin found the back of the net for his 14th of the season with help from Jaromir Jagr and Gregory Campbell. Netting the only goal for the black and gold put Seguin’s game as a positive.

“Honestly, I think our first period was one of the best periods we’ve played in a while,” said Tyler Seguin of Boston’s play. “Those of us not getting as many goals as the last few games I thought we had a good period. I thought we competed well, we battled, and I think it’s just about finding the consistency obviously in the last few weeks, but again, we just ran out of gas.”

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While exhaustion seemed to be the deciding factor for the Bruins. It was the Islanders Josh Bailey who carried his team to a 2-1 victory; after scoring his second of the game at 13:12 of the second period.Scoring both goals for the Islanders earned the forward first star commendations on the night.

It was overly apparent that Boston was tired after playing 3-in-4 nights, and Bruins fans were tired of hearing that excuse no matter how true it may be. Despite the loss, the players still felt that they played a decent game.

“We had enough chances to win the hockey game,” said Jaromir Jagr on the loss. “I thought we played pretty good against them. We didn’t play up and down hockey. That’s the way they like it. I thought we played a pretty good cycling game. And we had a lot of chances to win the hockey game. It just didn’t happen tonight.”

The Bruins will have a quick turnaround as they travel to Carolina for a Saturday night tilt against the Hurricanes. Rest is a luxury not afforded to the team as they play Monday, Wednesday and Friday games in Boston this coming week.