Charlie Coyle, Second Line Shine in Bruins’ 5-2 Win over Islanders

With two goals on the night, an empty net in front of him and just over a minute remaining in the third period, Charlie Coyle pushed the puck forward to David Pastrnak instead of taking the shot from the point.

Pastrnak, who signaled to Coyle to crash the net, got the rubber back to the hometown kid to secure his first career hat trick and seal the Boston Bruins’ 5-2 win over the New York Islanders at TD Garden on Thursday night.

In a game where he also scored his 400th career point, Coyle did everything for the B’s – gritty on the penalty kill, steady on the power play, buzzing 5-on-5 – and, in return, his team helped push him to a new NHL milestone.

“That’s why I love working with this team. It’s great to be part of the Bruins’ culture, and I’ve said that since I’ve been here from Day 1,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said.

“To see ‘Pasta’ waving at him like ‘go to the net, I’m going to give it back to you for the hat trick;’ they’re incredibly unselfish and thoughtful people. It shows in the way they love playing for each other.”

Coyle’s four-point performance was bolstered by his line with Trent Frederic and James van Riemsdyk that had it going from puck drop. Through 11:21 of total ice time together, the trio combined for eight points and was a spark for the Bruins in all three periods.

“I just think we’re really on the same page with what our strengths are as players and how we want to try to play,” van Riemsdyk said. “It’s one of those things where we seem to see each other really well out there and kind of understand where the other guys are trying to be to support the puck and get open.”

Frederic, who opened scoring for Boston at 14:05 of the first period following a strong forechecking play from Coyle and sharp pass from van Riemsdyk down low, has found real chemistry with No. 13 the past two seasons, and Thursday was no exception.

“I love playing with them. I’ve always loved playing with ‘Freddy,’ we have for a few years now,” Coyle said. “But ‘JVR’ is a pretty easy guy to read off of and the way he plays. I thought they were both really good tonight.”

While van Riemsdyk might’ve been brought in for his own goal-scoring abilities, the 34-year-old has grown his passing game while in Boston and was no doubt one of the team’s top playmakers against the Islanders, ending the night with two assists.

“I thought it had a huge impact. ‘JVR’ made five outstanding first passes – two of them didn’t end up in the net, three or four of them did,” Montgomery said. “Frederic and Coyle have always had chemistry together, played well together, so it was really nice to see.”

Frederic joked that van Riemsdyk could’ve had five assists if he “could’ve put a couple more in for him,” but nonetheless, that line was feeling it and the Bruins were better because of it.

Montgomery called the 5-2 victory the best offensive game his group has had this year, and you could see some of the responsibility come off of the goaltender and defensemen as the B’s continued to widen the deficit.

Before Thursday, five of the Bruins’ last six contests were one-goal, down-to-the wire games. Finding a way to win is one thing, but being able to put a team away before the 10 minute mark of the third period is another – and it was an important benchmark for the 11-1-1 Bruins to hit.

“We’re starting to see it. We’re starting to see more glimpses, more consistently,” Montgomery said of Boston’s offensive production. “We’re playing faster, it’s coming.”

Linus Ullmark was Linus Ullmark, posting 27 saves in a sound 60 minutes of play, and the still short-handed defense group continued to hold it down – helped by Derek Forbort’s return. But it was the jump of players like Coyle that rounded out the win, that made it feel like a turning point.

“You can’t speak enough about what he does in all facets of the game,” van Riemsdyk said of Coyle. “So it’s nice to see him get rewarded because I think he does a lot of those little details and things that maybe sometimes tend to be overlooked.”