BOSTON (AP) — Nathan Horton had two goals and an assist, and Tuukka Rask stopped 24 shots to earn his first win of the season and lead the Boston Bruins to a 6-2 victory over the New York Islanders.

The win pulled the defending Stanley Cup champions out of last place in the Eastern Conference. The have won three in a row for the first time this season.

Evgeni Nabokov allowed three goals on 12 shots before he was pulled just 12:40 into the game. Al Montoya went the rest of the way and made 21 saves for the Islanders.

New York pulled the goalie down 5-2 with 4:02 left, and David Krejci scored an empty-netter with 2:48 to play. Krejci had a goal and two assists in the game, giving him back-to-back three-point games after going scoreless in his previous six.

The Bruins scored a pair of goals 29 seconds apart in the first period to make it 3-1, and then had another pair just 49 seconds apart in the third to take a 5-2 lead. It was the third straight strong offensive performance by Boston, which beat Ottawa 5-3 on Tuesday and Toronto 7-0 on Saturday night.

The Bruins took the lead just 92 seconds into the game when Jordan Caron’s forechecking forced a turnover in the Islanders’ zone and he got the puck over to Benoit Pouliot. But the Islanders tied it when Steve Staios’ slapshot from the point was deflected into the net by Matt Moulson.

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That’s when Boston broke it open.

With 6:22 left in the first, Zdeno Chara’s shot popped out to Horton at the circle and he put in the rebound to make it 2-1. Just 29 seconds later, Patrice Bergeron centered to Tyler Seguin from behind the net for another goal.

That was it for Nabokov.

The Islanders cut the deficit to one goal with 1:24 left in the first when John Tavares kept the puck in the zone with a baseball swing, then Michael Grabner scored.

But after a scoreless second period the Bruins struck quickly again.

Milan Lucic and Horton got behind the defense for a 2-on-0 to make it 4-2, leaving Staios to angrily knock the net off its moorings. With 14:37 left, Horton was left alone in front of the net to swipe in a rebound of Joe Corvo’s shot.

Notes: Bergeron extended his point streak to seven games. … Seguin had a hat trick in the Toronto win and leads the club in scoring…. The Bruins have won 13 of their last 17 vs. the Islanders. … Bruins F Rich Peverley was out with an undisclosed injury. … Chris Kelly played 500th career NHL game. … Five times this year, the Bruins have scored twice in less than 30 seconds, including three times in Toronto on Saturday night. … It was just New York’s fourth road game of the year. … John Tavares has 8 of the Islanders’ 23 goals coming into game, the highest percentage in the NHL. … The 23 goals in their first 11 games was the fewest for the Islanders since 1999.


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