Final observations

It looked like the Bruins second period problems would haunt them again, this time against the best team in the Eastern Conference. But Kevan Miller’s tally with 3.4 seconds left in the middle 20 came at an absolute crucial moment and the Black and Gold fed off that. Torey Krug quickly made it 4-2 with his 10th of the season just 1:46 into the third and the B’s earned a hard-fought 5-2 win over the New York Islanders in their final regular season appearance at the Nassau Coliseum.

– Don’t look now, but Reilly Smith has put together a nice string of games. Smith had been held pointless in five straight games entering last Tuesday’s game against his former team, the Dallas Stars. Since then, the ex Miami (Ohio) forward has five points in his last three games, including a goal and two assists in tonight’s win.

– While Smith thrived, David Pastrnak was a victim of Claude Julien’s line shuffling. The rookie notched just 10:01 of ice time making it the second fewest minutes he’s recorded in his first season. Pastrnak’s lowest amount of ice time came in his first game back in November against the Pittsburgh Penguins where he tallied 7:53 of ice time.

– With Smith, Krug and Milan Lucic’s lighting the lamp, the Bruins now have six players with 10 or more goals this season. They still lack that elite goal scorer, but for a team that’s had its share of trouble putting the puck in the net, it’s a little surprising to see that many B’s have double digits in goals – even during their impressive month of January.

– The win puts the Bruins at 59 points on the season. They’ve also leap frogged the New York Rangers for seventh place in the Eastern Conference – and the top wild card spot – after they fell 1-0 to the Montreal Canadiens just moments ago. The B’s and Blueshirts square off on Wednesday night, but before that the Black and Gold welcome the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings in less than 48 hours at TD Garden.