Bruins Defeat Islanders 3-1 on Road Trip Finale

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Alex Steeves scored twice, including a short-handed goal, and Jeremy Swayman stopped 44 of 45 shots as the Boston Bruins defeated the New York Islanders 3-1 on Wednesday night at UBS Arena, closing out a four-game road trip with a 2-2 record.

The victory improved Boston's mark to 14-11-0, placing the team third in the Atlantic Division under first-year coach Marco Sturm. The Bruins, who missed the playoffs last season, have won three of their last seven games overall and completed a season sweep of the Islanders with this result. New York, now 13-9-2, fell to 1-2-0 on its seven-game homestand.

The Islanders struck first at 4:41 of the opening period when Mathew Barzal capitalized on a neutral-zone turnover by Boston's Matej Blumel, deking past Pavel Zacha and slipping the puck past Swayman for his seventh goal of the season. Blumel, returning from a lower-body injury, played just over 20 minutes before exiting midway through the first.

Boston responded quickly. At 6:23, Steeves tied the score by pouncing on a rebound in front of Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin after a strong shift from the fourth line. The 25-year-old forward, signed as a free agent last July...