The Newport Daily Express

Islanders Eliminate Bruins, Return to Stanley Cup Semifinals

VIN A. CHERWOO AP Sports Writer ACT Media

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — The New York Islanders fell behind after three games for the second straight series.

Each time, they won three straight to advance, and now they’re headed to the Stanley Cup semifinals for the second straight year.

Brock Nelson scored twice in New York’s three-goal second period, Semyon Varlamov stopped 23 shots and the Islanders beat the Boston Bruins 6-2 in Game 6 on Wednesday night.

Kyle Palmieri, Trais Zajac, Cal Clutterbuck and Ryan Pulock also scored to set up a rematch with the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning, who beat the Islanders in six games in the Eastern Conference finals last year in the bubble in Edmonton, Alberta.

The semifinal series schedule has not been released.

“If you want to win it all you got to beat the best,” Nelson said. “I don’t think anybody has been sitting here thinking about revenge on Tampa. Just trying to take it each game, each series, one at time. Now we can kind of turn the page and turn our focus to them. They’re obviously a great team, the defending champs here again. It’ll be a good battle.”

Josh Bailey, who had two assists, agreed with the sentiment.

“We feel we have some unfinished business,” he said. “We’ll enjoy tonight and we’ll start getting ready.

“You need everyone going to beat a team like that,” he said. “Everyone in the lineup was contributing, playing the way we needed to play to get the win. Certainly happy to move on.”

Jean-Gabriel Pageau also had two assists to help New York finish off Boston in a front of a raucous home crowd at Nassau Coliseum.

“Whenever you have the opportunity to close a team out, you want to bring your best,” Nelson said. “I thought we’ve been able to do that both times now, against Pittsburgh (in the first round) and Boston.”

After shutting down Pittsburgh’s Sidney

Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel in the first round, the Islanders weren’t as successful against Boston’s Perfection Line of Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron as the Bruins’ trio totaled 10 goals and 12 assists in the series.

“They’re an extremely skilled line and they definitely got their chances,” New York defenseman Adam Pelech said. “I thought we did a better job as the series went on. It’s tough to completely shut those guys down, they’re going to get their chances.”

However, the rest of the Bruins combined for just seven goals.

Marchand scored twice in Game 6 for Boston, and Tuukka Rask made 23 saves. The Bruins, who reached the Stanley Cup Final two years ago, were eliminated in the second round for the second straight year.

“They’re a good defensive team,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They manage pucks clearly better than us. We’re not getting those free chances they got in terms of mismanaging pucks . ... They don’t beat themselves.”

With the Bruins on the power play, Marchand got the puck in front of the net and put a backhander past Varlamov from the right side at 5:38 of the third to cut Boston’s deficit to 4-2.

It was Marchand’s fifth of the series and eighth of the postseason.

The Islanders’ stifling defense limited the Bruins to just five shots on goal in the third.

The Bruins pulled Rask for an extra skater with 1:25 left, and the Islanders got empty-netters in the final minute from Clutterbuck and Pulock to seal it.

After outscoring the Bruins 8-3 in the middle periods of the first five games, New York had three more in the second — for the third time in the series.

Nelson stole the puck from Matt Grzelcyk, who took off on breakaway and beat Rask into the top right corner at 5:20 to put New York up 2-1.

Bailey stole an outlet pass from Rask and fed Nelson streaking to net, and Nelson beat the goalie from the right side with 7:23 left in the second for his second of the night and sixth of the playoffs.

The Islanders stretched the lead to 4-1 as Palmieri got the rebound of Pelech’s point shot and put it in from the right side for his seventh of the postseason.

The Islanders got on the scoreboard first as Zajac scored on the rebound of a point shot by Noah Dobson at 8:52 of the first for his first goal this postseason.

Boston had a 5-on-3 for 14 seconds late in the first on overlapping tripping penalties on Anthony Beauvillier and Casey Cizikas.

It drew chants of “New York Saints! New York Saints!” from the crowd, a reference to what Cassidy called the Islanders when complaining about the imbalance in penalties after Game 4.

“We hear some of the chants,” Bailey said. “Tonight was an incredible atmosphere out there. I think we really fed off it.”

After the first penalty expired, Marchand tied it with 2:24 remaining as he got a cross-ice pass from Pastrnak in the right circle and quickly bet Varlamov high on the glove side.

BARRE– Barre’s Thunder Road begins the weekly racing season in earnest this Friday, June 11. With three championship divisions, the Myers Container Service Triple Crown 100, and a visit from the New England Antique Racers, fans will have plenty to talk about whether they’re watching at the track or live on FloRacing.

The huge Friday program has a special 6:30pm post time to fit all the excitement in. Racing begins with the 100-lap Triple Crown showdown for the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, which was postponed from last week’s Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic due to unexpected rain showers. Tiger stars like four-time champion Jason Woodard, Triple Crown champions Jaden Perry and Mike Martin, Sam Caron, and Logan Powers will go at it in the series opener. Waitsfield’s Kevin Streeter and Milton’s Caron are slated to lead the field to the green flag.

From there, the evening moves straight into the regular event. A full card is scheduled for the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models, Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, and RK Miles Street Stocks. It will be an extrabusy night in the Flying Tiger pits with 140 laps of feature action.

“It’ll be fun,” Caron said. “We have the 100-lapper, which is essentially two and half races crammed into one, to start the night. Then there’s the meat and potatos of the weekly racing season right after that…patience will probably be the key. Some (teams) might bring two cars, but I don’t have that luxury. So we’ll have to balance aggression and opportunity in the first race, knowing that there’s more to come after the Triple Crown.”

The double features also mean Friday is a big early marker in the 2021 Flying Tiger championship chase. Racers who had a strong Opening Day such as point leader Bryan Wall Jr., Perry, Caron, and Stephen Martin can build on it and start two different title runs.

Conversely, those whose opener didn’t live up to expectations have a golden opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start fresh.

“One of the most pivotal nights of the season is usually double-points night — and that’s essentially what you have with two races in one,” Caron said. “And it’s one of three Triple Crown races, so a good start to that season definitely sets you up for the last two. Last year, I think it took three top-fives to win the (Triple Crown) championship. So that’s going to kind of weigh on the back of your mind, with the field being similarly competitive.”

In the Late Models, familiar faces sit atop the standings following the Memorial Day Classic. Barre’s Jason Corliss began his mission for a third straight “King of the Road” with a third triumph in the historic event.

He leads the points over fellow two-time champion Scott Dragon of Milton, who has come out of the gate strong with his new Todd Rueda-owned team.

Two other early notables include Shelburne’s Trampas Demers and Graniteville’s Christopher Pelkey. Demers suffered a hard crash in qualifying last Friday while Pelkey had most of the driver’s side sheet metal shorn off in an early feature crash. Undaunted, both battled back to finish in the top-5, making a statement for the season to come.

Meanwhile, Kyle Pembroke and Brendan Moodie both need a quick turnaround after they were unable to start the Memorial Day feature.

The RK Mile Street Stocks have a 25-lap feature this Friday. Their Memorial Day Classic main event was also rained out, meaning they’ll run double features next Thursday, June 17 at Casella Wase Systems Night.

In the meantime, hotshoes like Jeffrey

Martin, Kaiden “Tropical Storm” Fisher, James Dopp, and Jamie Davis are looking to get dialed in for the season ahead. Derek Farnham, Tommy “Thunder” Smith, Will Hennequin, and Josh Lovely all hope their speed in qualifying last Friday will carry over at least one more week.

The June 11 show is rounded out by the New England Antique Racers. It’s their first appearance in three years at Thunder Road. The 2019 appearance was cancelled due to weather while the 2020 event was a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now in 2021, classic Modifieds and Sportsmen get to roar on the high banks again for a pair of 15-lap features. Some of these vintage vehicles are piloted by former racers familiar to Thunder Road fans, including Milton’s Norm Cyr, Worcester’s Wayne “The Polish Cannon” Wojtyna, and Moscow’s John “The Birdman” Adams.

Last but not least, Friday night is also “Scout Night” at Thunder Road. All scouts in uniforms will be admitted free of charge. Scout leaders in uniform accompanying scouts who are minors also get free admission.

Thunder Road goes green this Friday, June 11 at 6:30pm with a packed program of championship stock car racing. T

he night begins with the Myers Container Service Triple Crown 100 for the Flying Tigers. It’s followed by a full card of the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models, Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, RK Miles Street Stocks, and New England Antique Racers.

Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and $30 for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids). Advance tickets are available at www.happsnow.com/event/Thunder-RoadSpeedbowl. All Thunder Road events are also live-streamed on FloRacing for those with a monthly or yearly subscription.

For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at (802) 244-6963, media@thunderroadvt.com, or visit www. thunderroadvt.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @ThunderRoadVT. For more information about FloRacing, visit www.FloRacing.com.

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2021-06-11T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-11T07:00:00.0000000Z

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