Uniondale, NY - Tuukka Rask made 43 saves, Milan Lucic and Reilly Smith tallied three points each and the Boston Bruins beat the New York Islanders 5-2 on Thursday. Lucic and Smith each had a goal and two assists to help Boston win for the seventh time in its last nine games. Patrice Bergeron, Kevan Miller and Torey Krug also scored for the Bruins. The Islanders got goals from John Tavares and Michael Grabner but had a two- game winning streak snapped. Jaroslav Halak allowed four goals on 32 shots. With just 3.4 seconds to go in the second period, Halak made a crucial mistake handling the puck. Miller knocked down Halaks weak clearing attempt at the blue line, and he wasted no time ripping a shot on goal that beat Halak to break a 2-2 tie. Boston did not even need two minutes in the third period to extend its lead to two. With traffic in front of the net, Krugs wrister from the blue line found its way to the back of the net for his 10th goal of the season. Rask stopped all 14 third-period shots from the Islanders, and Lucics 10th goal of the season on an empty net sealed the win. The Islanders controlled play early, but the Bruins lit the lamp first. Smith drove to the net, and Lucics pass from the boards went between a defenders legs to Smiths stick where he redirected the puck past Halak. Just two minutes later, Boston got its first power play of the game and cashed in. Bergeron skated down from the blue line with the puck and used nifty puck-handling to create a shooting lane before wristing a shot off the post and into the net. It took a tremendous individual effort from Tavares to finally beat Rask in the second period. From center ice, Tavares chipped the puck in the air toward Rask, and the goalie could not handle it cleanly. Tavares skated through the defense and backhanded the puck in for New Yorks first goal of the game. Grabners fifth goal of the season tied the game later in the period. Johnny Boychuk held a clearing attempt in the zone, and Grabner deflected Boychuks wrist shot past Rask. Game Notes Tavares has scored in four straight games and has four goals and five assists in a five-game point streak ... Boychuks assist was his 100th NHL point ... Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy played in his 300th consecutive game ... New Yorks Frans Nielsen lost his five-game point streak ... Each team has won a game on the road in the season series which concludes on Feb. 7. Junior Fernandez . The Raptors second-year forward has been one of the primary beneficiaries of the early-season trade, breaking out and becoming a vital part of his teams success on both ends of the floor. Around the league, teams are starting to take notice and feature Ross more predominately in their pre-game scouting reports but its not just the opposition that hes impressing. Albert Pujols . -- Omar Infante walked past the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, where he dressed so many times as a member of the Detroit Tigers, and slipped on a crisp, new Kansas City Royals jersey. http://www.custommlbcardinalsjersey.com/...arge-1391q.html. He learned about pressure and expectations at the 2010 Games in his hometown of Vancouver. His next mission is to build on that experience at his next Olympic appearance in Sochi, where he plans to ride the momentum from the teams strong start to the season. Dominic Leone . Forward Iker Muniain scored the winner in the 70th minute after Bilbaos incessant pressure recovered the ball and sparked a counterattack inside Barcelonas half. Neymar was once again tagged to pick up Messis goal-scoring duties, but when he wasnt frustrated by slippery footing Bilbaos defence got the better of him. Jack Flaherty . - IndyCar racing officials expressed confidence on Monday that the NOLA Motorsports Park will be able to complete more $4.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Former Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens centre Matt Birk was hired Thursday by the NFL as director of football development. The six-time Pro Bowl player and 2011 Walter Payton Award winner as the leagues man of the year spent the 2013 season as an NFL-NFLPA appeals officer. In his new role, Birk will be involved in administration of game-day operations, oversee the further development of the scouting combine and regional combines, as well as the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine game for college players. "Im very excited to begin this next chapter of my football career,&quuot; Birk said.dddddddddddd "Its a real honour for me to be entrusted with developing the game in so many different ways." Birk becomes the eighth former player to take a job at the NFL executive offices, joining Merton Hanks, Dwight Hollier, Patrick Kerney, James Thrash, David Tyree, Troy Vincent and Charles Way. Vincent is the leagues top executive for football operations. "Matts experience as a terrific NFL player, a model citizen in his community and a reputation as a forward-thinking leader make him ideally suited for this role," Vincent said. ' ' '