The Bruins’ three-goal third kept the Islanders on their toes

Pavel Zacha scored the game-winning and decisive goals less than three minutes apart in the third period for the Boston Bruins, who defeated the New York Islanders 6-3 in Elmont, NY on Wednesday night

Zacha deflected a shot from Andrew Peeke with 9:12 left before beating Ilya Sorokin with a crisp backhand at 13:23.

Brad Marchand scored twice in the first, Morgan Geekie scored in the second and Nikita Zadorov added an empty-net goal with 2:02 left for the Bruins, who tied a season-high in goals. Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak each contributed three assists for Boston, which had not scored more than four goals since a 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 16.

Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo made 21 saves as the Bruins improved to 3-1-0 under interim coach Joe Sacco.

Brock Nelson scored two goals and had an assist while Maxim Tsyplakov scored a goal for the Islanders, who have lost five of six games (1-4-1). Sorokin recorded 15 saves.

Marchand scored the first goal just 57 seconds into the game. Lindholm won a faceoff against Casey Cizikas and the puck scurried to Marchand, who immediately fired a shot under Sorokin’s stick arm.

Less than six minutes later, Marchand doubled the lead. A clearing pass from Zadorov from the Bruins’ zone failed at the sticks of Lindholm and New York’s Dennis Cholowski. The puck remained in the crease until Marchand swooped down and buried a shot under Sorokin’s legs at 6:31.

Nelson helped start the Islanders’ comeback attempt when, after Parker Wotherspoon lost the ball, he picked up the puck deep in the Bruins’ zone and fed it to Tsyplakov, who took the pass in one motion and followed Korpisalo with a backhand under his legs 7 hit :10 left.

Nelson tied the game 8:52 into the second period. Isaiah George’s pass bounced off Tsyplakov’s stick toward the Bruins’ Mason Lohrei, who couldn’t control the puck as Nelson stormed past him, picked up the puck and fired a shot under Korpisalo’s glove arm.

A Cholowski turnover deep in the Islanders’ zone led to Geekie’s go-ahead goal 3:07 later, when he rifled a shot past Sorokin as Noah Dobson tried to get into the firing line.

Nelson tied the game again with 7.2 seconds left in the second. A pass from Ryan Pulock bounced off Nelson’s skate before the center collected the puck and beat Korpisalo’s stickside.

–Field level media