Bruins pull out 4-3 shootout win over Islanders

The hard-out Bruins are indeed back. And the B’s may have just found a new offensive weapon.

Marat Khusnutdinov, who tied the game late in regulation, scored the only shootout goal to lift the B’s to a 4-3 victory in a game in which they never led in regulation at UBS Arena on Tuesday. It was their fourth straight victory and the win snapped a four-game road losing streak.

This game was slow to boil, but it turned into a fun one.

The Islanders took their third lead at 5:05 of the third period. The B’s had just failed on a power play and Matthew Schaefer stepped out of the box to accept a pass at the Boston blue line. He pushed it it to an onrushing Bo Horvat, who beat Jeremy Swayman from the top of the left circle to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead.

It was a tough goal for Swayman to allow at that juncture of the game but he did come up with a couple of big stops to keep the B’s within a goal.

The turned up the heat and were able to finally tie it with 4:54 left in the third period. In a mad scramble, Ilya Sorokin made a good stop on Fraser Minten from the slot, but Khusnutdinov — whose first goal was on OT game-winner against Buffalo last week — darted into the slot to get the rebound and score his second of the season on a sliding backhander.

Charlie McAvoy was called for high-sticking on Jonathan Drouin with 1:44 left in regulation, a call McAvoy disagreed with. They were able to kill off the 5-on-4 in regulation and then the brief 4-on-3 in OT.

In the extra session, both teams had chances to win it, with the B’s best opportunity coming on a David Pastrnak-to-McAvoy backdoor play, but Sorokin made the pad stop to get it to the shootout. That’s where Khusnutdinov scored the only goal the B’s needed and Swayman stopped all three Islanders shooters.

The first period was like an extension of the B’s smothering 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. They did not allow a shot on Swayman until there was just 5:10 left in the period. The B’s, who had a 7-3 shot advantage, had excellent layers in the defensive zone. When there was the rare misplay of the puck, a teammate was there to cover.

It may not have been all that riveting to watch but, for a B’s team that had allowed forwards to roam free in the slot area just a week ago, it’s been a positive development.

The second period, however, looked nothing like the first as the teams traded a pair of goals each.

In the second, the Isles got some momentum early when Nikita Zadorov was called for a highly questionable tripping call. The Islanders did not score on the power play, but did get on board not too long after that on a play off a faceoff at 5:11.

Casey Cizikas beat Sean Kuraly on the draw in the right circle and Kyle MacLean tapped it back to Anthony Duclair. From the high slot, Duclair appeared to surprise Swayman with a shot that beat the goalie to the blocker side.

The B’s got a PP opportunity of their own and did everything but score. Their best chance came when Morgan Geekie slipped a backhand pass through the crease to Pavel Zacha but Zacha heeled it wide.

Tempers flared when Zadorov belted young phenom Schaefer behind the Bruins net. Zadorov was already going for interference, but when Schaefer held on to his stick while the Islander was on his knees, Zadorov ignited a brouhaha. When it was all said and done, Zadorov also got a double minor for roughing while Anders Lee and Duclair got minors.

That gave the Isles a power play which the B’s were able to kill off and then tie it up on a fortunate bounce at 12:21. Viktor Arvidsson tried jammed the puck home from the side of the net but the rebound went wide, bounced off of Lee and past Sorokin for Arvidsson’s fourth of the year.

After the big kill and the goal, the B’s should have had all the momentum but they coughed up the lead just 45 seconds later. Geekie turned over the puck in the neutral zone, giving the Islanders a quick 2-on-1. Matthew Barzal fed Horvat for the 2-1 New York lead.

But before the period was out, the B’s tied it up on the power play with Lee in the box for crosschecking. While Zacha had missed several scoring chances earlier in the game, he buried the puck into a half-open net when a puck squirted to him in the right circle with 2:31 left in the period. It was Zacha’s third of the year.

The B’s had another PP chance when Scott Mayfield took a crosschecking penalty seconds after the goal, but they could not capitalize and the teams went into the third period tied 2-2.

Lucic in Springfield

Former Bruin Milan Lucic is continuing his comeback attempt. Lucic signed a professional tryout contract with the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League. Lucic had signed a tryout deal with the St. Louis Blues in September but a training camp injury derailed any chance he had of making the club. The Thunderbirds are the AHL affiliate of the Blues.

The Providence Bruins have a home-and-home with Springfield on Dec. 6-7. Should he get his game to the point for St. Louis to sign him to an NHL deal, the Blues visit the Bruins at TD Garden on Dec. 4.

Lucic hasn’t played since he was arrested and charged for domestic assault in November 2003 while he was a member of the Bruins. Lucic entered the NHL’s player assistance program and the case was eventually dismissed.