BOSTON — Patrice Bergeron celebrated his 1,000th career game with a pair of goals as the Boston Bruins beat the New York Islanders 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Bergeron, just the fifth player in Bruins’ history to play 1,000 games with the club, scored early in the second period and added an empty-netter in the final minute.
Peter Cehlarik also scored and Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots for the Bruins, who handed the Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders their first regulation loss in more than three weeks.
Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak assisted on both of Bergeron’s goals.
Jordan Eberle scored for the Islanders and Robin Lehner finished with 24 saves as New York’s run of eight straight games with a point came to an end. The Islanders entered the game with a 6-0-2 stretch since a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Jan. 12.
Cehlarik broke a 1-all tie 6:34 into the third on a rebound after Lehner stopped Kevan Miller’s initial shot. It was the third goal of the season for Cehlarik.
Bergeron put the Bruins up 1-0 at 2:32 of the second period when he poked in the rebound after Lehner stopped a one-timer by Pastrnak but couldn’t control the puck.
Pastrnak picked up his second assist with 55 seconds left to play, foregoing a shot into an empty net by leaving the puck for Bergeron to slap in after the Islanders had pulled Lehner.
Marchand helped set up Bergeron’s first goal with a crossing pass to Pastrnak, who got the shot on net and Bergeron was there for the rebound. Marchand skated out to retrieve the puck at the blue line and brought it back to Bergeron on his milestone night.
The Islanders tied it on Eberle’s power-play goal with 3:20 left in the second on a wrist shot that got through Rask on the stick side.
The Islanders appeared to take a 2-1 lead 4:52 into the third on a wrist shot by Cal Clutterbuck, but the Bruins challenged, believing Clutterbuck was already across the blue line when Casey Cizikas brought the puck into the zone.
Fans booed when they saw the replay and got louder as the review stretched past a few minutes. The boos turned to cheers when referee Chris Schlenker announced the play was offside and the goal didn’t count.
NOTES: Bergeron joined Ray Bourque (1,518), Johnny Bucyk (1,436), Don Sweeney (1,052) and Wayne Cashman (1,027) as the only players to play 1,000 games with the Bruins. . The Islanders went 1 for 5 on the power play. . The game was delayed for a few minutes for a ceremonial puck drop featuring the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, who celebrated their sixth championship earlier in the day with a downtown parade. Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman, wearing his No. 11 on a custom Bruins jersey, led the group of players out on the ice and had the honour of dropping the puck between Islanders captain Anders Lee and Bergeron, but spiked the puck on the ice instead.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Visit the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
Bruins: Visit the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.
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Doug Alden, The Associated Press