By SCOTT CHARLES
Kyle Palmieri scored three times in the first period for his third career hat trick and the New York Islanders coasted to a 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night for their third straight win.
Palmieri, who completed the natural hat trick just 12:19 in, had his first three-goal game with the Islanders and added an assist. Anders Lee had a goal and an assist, Brock Nelson also scored, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Bo Horvat each added two assists and Ilya Sorokin finished with 24 saves.
Marc McLaughlin scored the lone goal for Boston and Linus Ullmark made 22 saves as the Bruins fell for the fourth time in five games (1-1-3).
The Islanders took a 1-0 lead when Noah Dobson delivered a beautiful stretch pass to Palmieri, who spun around Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei before sliding the puck between Ullmark’s legs at 3:32.
Palmieri made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 5:27. Bo Horvat’s one-time shot from the slot created a rebound opportunity that the 33-year-old Palmieri capitalized on. Mathew Barzal also assisted.
The Long Island native capped his hat trick when he buried another rebound in the slot. Palmieri left during the second period after taking a check from Parker Wotherspoon, but returned.
Lee extended the Islanders’ lead to 4-0 on the first shift of the second period with was his 16th of the season. It was only the Islanders captain’s third goal since a scoring twice against Winnipeg on Jan. 16.
Nelson put home his own rebound and collected his 28th of the season at 10:24 to make it 5-0.
McLaughlin netted his first goal of the season and spoiled Sorokin’s shutout bid at 14:30 of the second.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.
Islanders: Host the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.
