BOSTON (AP) — Zdeno Chara scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Tuukka Rask made 24 saves, lifting the Boston Bruins to a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders on Friday night.

Patrice Bergeron, Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell also scored for Boston, which improved to 3-0-1.

New York’s Keith Aucoin had his first career two-goal game, and has scored three times in two games.

Rick DiPietro, playing his first game since Dec. 3, 2011, after last season was cut short by a groin injury, made 23 saves for the Islanders.

New York (2-2) played the second of five straight on the road after scoring six unanswered goals to beat Toronto 7-4 on Thursday.

The game featured a matchup of the NHL’s best two penalty killing units this season. The Bruins have killed all 17 short-handed situations, and the Islanders improved to 13 for 13.

Rask has played all of Boston’s games.

Boston took a 3-2 lead 7:07 into the third when Milan Lucic circled from behind the net and fed Chara, who fired a wrist shot past DiPietro’s glove inside the left post from the high slot.

Bergeron scored on a breakaway with 6:27 to play, shifting a few times before tucking in a forehand shot.

Chara hit the left post in the closing minute with a backhand shot from the blue line after the Islanders pulled DiPietro for an extra skater.

The Bruins grabbed a 1-0 lead 4:52 into the game. Thornton, benched for a good portion of Boston’s 4-3 overtime loss at the New York Rangers after a giveaway led to a goal on Wednesday, backhanded in the rebound of Doug Hamilton’s shot from the left point.

New York tied it on Aucoin’s goal midway into the period. Aucoin came charging into the slot and redirected Colin McDonald’s pass from behind the net past Rask.

Aucoin got to an errant clearing attempt in the high slot and unloaded a slap shot past Rask’s glove to give the Islanders a 2-1 edge midway into the second, but the Bruins tied it less than 4 minutes later. Campbell controlled a rebound in front and the puck past DiPietro.

NOTES: New York LW Matt Moulson played his 250th straight game. He hasn’t missed a game with the Islanders. … Boston D Dennis Seidenberg, who missed two games because of an undisclosed lower body injury, returned. … The Islanders will play at Winnipeg on Sunday. … The Bruins are off until Monday when they play at Carolina. … Boston is 15-3-1 in its last 19 games against New York. … Boston went 0 for 3 on the power play, dropping to 1 for 17 this season. … It was the second straight night a team from New York played at TD Garden. The NBA’s Knicks beat the Celtics on Thursday. … Bruins rookie D Hamilton had two assists. The club must decide after six games if he will stay or go back to juniors.