Thomas makes 37 saves and Bruins slip past Islanders 3-2

Bruins edge Islanders 3-2

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Marc Savard scored in the second period and Tim Thomas made 37 saves to lead Boston past the New York Islanders 3-2 on Saturday in the opener of the Bruins’ season-high seven-game road trip.

Milan Lucic and David Krejci also scored for Boston, which has won two straight and six of its past seven to move into seventh in the Eastern Conference with 69 points. The Bruins have also won five in a row on the road.

Josh Bailey and Matt Moulson scored for the Islanders, whose playoff hopes are fading after dropping two straight and 11 of their past 14, leaving them with 60 points.

The Islanders tied the game at 1-1 at 2:18 of the second period when Mark Streit’s point drive got through Thomas and Bailey tipped it into the net.

The Bruins retook the lead at 5:04 when Mark Stuart sent the puck from the left wing down low on the right to Miroslav Satan, and he fed it to an open Krejci in front for the 2-1 lead.

Then 4:16 later, Boston converted again. Patrice Bergeron, who had missed the previous two games with a groin injury, sent a high shot past the Islanders’ net. Goalie Dwayne Roloson (31 saves) lost sight of the puck, looking to his left. The ricochet came back out to his right, and Savard was there to sweep it into the net and make it a two-goal lead.

Michael Ryder crushed the Islanders’ Blake Comeau into the boards and drew a five-minute major for checking from behind with 3:54 left in the period. Comeau stayed down on the ice for a few minutes before skating off toward the dressing room. There was no immediate report on his injury.

The Islanders, who outshot the Bruins 22-12 in the period, got off five shots on goal before the end of the period but couldn’t beat Thomas, the U.S. Olympian playing his second straight game in place of the injured Tuukka Rask (knee). The crowd booed as the period came to an end. Boston, which has the top-ranked penalty-killing unit, came out in the third and killed off the remaining 1:06 of the penalty.

The Islanders cut it to 3-2 at 5:43 of the third. Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk lost the puck in the right corner to Frans Nielsen, who sent it to Moulson nearby, and the left wing buried it to extend his team lead to 23 goals.

Notes: Streit picked up his 200th career point. … The Islanders were without injured right wing Trent Hunter (upper body), defenseman Andrew MacDonald (foot) and goalie Rick DiPietro (knee). … Islanders coach Scott Gordon started Roloson again in goal after pulling him in favor of Martin Biron with three goals already in at 9:16 of the first period in Thursday’s 6-3 loss at Atlanta. “Right now, Rolie gives us the best chance to win,” Gordon said. … John Tavares, the Islanders’ slumping rookie center, has no goals in his past 17 games. … Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference missed his second straight game because of a groin injury. … The Islanders still took the season series from Boston 2-1-1.