Alex Steeves scores twice as Bruins defeat Islanders 3-1

NEW YORK (AP) – Alex Steeves scored twice and Jeremy Swayman made 44 saves as the Boston Bruins downed the New York Islanders 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Tanner Jeannot also scored for the Bruins, who won for just the third time in seven games but completed a three-game sweep over the Islanders this season.

Swayman made 23 saves in the third to improve to 10-6-0. The Bruins – who missed the playoffs last season – have started 14-11-0 under first-year coach Marco Sturm.

After New York’s Mathew Barzal opened the scoring at 4:41 of the first with his seventh goal, Steeves tied it at 6:23 of the opening period.

Jeannot put Boston ahead 43 seconds into the middle period with his third.

Steeves added his second goal of the game and third of the season – shorthanded – at 10:21 of the third.

Steeves, a 25-year-old free-agent addition by the Bruins last July, had one goal in 14 games with Toronto before this season.

Boston rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win 5-2 in Boston on Oct. 28, then won 4-3 in a shootout at UBS Arena on Nov. 4.

New York’s power play was 0-19 over its previous six games, then failed four more times with the man-advantage on Wednesday. The Islanders haven’t scored in 27 straight power-play chances overall since converting early in a 4-3 win at Las Vegas on Nov. 13.

Ilya Sorokin made 11 saves in defeat to fall to 7-7-2. The Islanders are 1-2-0 on their current seven-game homestand after going 6-1-0 on their recently completed road trip.

The Islanders were coming off a 1-0 home shootout win over Seattle on Sunday.

Bruins: Host New York Rangers on Friday afternoon.

Islanders: Host Philadelphia Flyers on Friday afternoon.