BOSTON — Ryan Donato, recalled from AHL Providence on Wednesday, scored the only goal of a shootout on Thursday night to give the Bruins a 2-1 victory over the Islanders at TD Garden, where the team retired Rick Middleton’s uniform No. 16 in a pregame ceremony.
Donato, the rookie from Scituate, Massachusetts, who was assigned to Providence after scoring only one point (a goal) in his first 11 games, beat Isles goalie Robin Lehner on a backhand fake on the Bruins' fourth [...]
BOSTON — Ryan Donato, recalled from AHL Providence on Wednesday, scored the only goal of a shootout on Thursday night to give the Bruins a 2-1 victory over the Islanders at TD Garden, where the team retired Rick Middleton’s uniform No. 16 in a pregame ceremony.
Donato, the rookie from Scituate, Massachusetts, who was assigned to Providence after scoring only one point (a goal) in his first 11 games, beat Isles goalie Robin Lehner on a backhand fake on the Bruins' fourth attempt.
“You want to make sure you have an immediate impact on the game, to show the coaches and the staff that you’ve developed in your time there,” said Donato, who converted his only previous shootout attempt last season against Winnipeg. "I tried to do that to the best of my ability, and hopefully I proved that today.”
Donato, who wears No. 17 in Boston, wore 16 for other teams in tribute to Middleton — a favorite of his father Ted Donato, the former Bruin who coached his son at Harvard through last season.
“When I was in Providence, I went home a couple times and my dad was showing me some highlights of [Middleton] … I knew if he was my dad’s favorite player, it meant a lot to him that I was able to play in this game. It was really cool to be a part of that.”
Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who stopped 28 shots in overtime and regulation, turned away all four attempts in the shootout.
Coming off a 4-2 loss on Monday at Toronto that ended a 3-0-2 points streak, the B’s unveiled yet another new lineup, out of necessity and choice. The throat injury that knocked Kevan Miller out of Monday’s game resulted in Steven Kampfer returning after a three-game absence, and coach Bruce Cassidy made changes to the first and third forward lines.
Colby Cave, who got to finish Monday’s game between wingers Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, started as the No. 1 center while Donato was added to the third line as left wing. Rookie center Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson was a healthy scratch, and the Bruins demoted Anders Bjork to Providence after 17 straight goal-less games. Sean Kuraly, who was a healthy scratch for the first time this season on Monday, returned to center the fourth line.
The latest version of the lineup outshot the Isles in the first period, 13-7, with most of the chances generated by the pre-existing line of Danton Heinen, David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk.
The Bruins fell behind despite the gap in shots. The Islanders' Anders Lee made it 1-0 during a delayed penalty sequence at 12:17, pushing a loose puck through Rask’s knees before he could cover it with his glove.
Cassidy went all over the map with line combinations in the second period, linking Pastrnak with Krejci while keeping Marchand with Cave and adding DeBrusk at right wing. The B’s did manage to tie it, but the goal came during a power play.
Marchand, who hadn’t scored a goal in his previous seven games, made it 1-1 with 7:51 left in the second, while Nick Leddy was serving a penalty for high-sticking David Backes. Torey Krug started the scoring play by keeping a puck in at the left point, with Pastrnak picking it up and carrying it toward the slot. Pastrnak found Marchand in the right circle, from where Marchand’s one-time snapper got through the legs of Lehner and caught the far side.
The Bruins’ staggering injury issues seemed to mount on the last shift of the period, when Thomas Hickey caught Krejci with his head down at center ice and staggered him with a check. Krejci, who hit the crossbar behind Lehner earlier in the second period, missed the first shift of the third, but returned after that and took a regular shift. Cassidy used him between Marchand and Pastrnak toward the end of the period.