Bruins’ rookie seizes opportunity, lifts Boston past Islanders

On the final night of a long road trip for the banged-up Bruins, Alex Steeves made his case to stick in the NHL.

The rookie scored two big goals to lift Boston past the Islanders, 3-1, at UBS Arena.

When the Bruins signed Alex Steeves and Matej Blumel during the offseason, they hoped at least one of the two would seize an opportunity for NHL playing time.

Each guy was an AHL star last year, trapped in the minors in an organization — Steeves in Toronto, Blumel in Dallas — loaded with scoring options ahead of them.

By signing with the Bruins, they could either prove that they were an NHL-caliber forward or that the AHL was their ceiling.

Neither player made the Bruins out of training camp. But a run of injuries opened the door to another chance. With Casey Mittelstadt, Viktor Arvidsson and previously Elias Lindholm out, both were summoned back to Boston.

On Wednesday against the Islanders, Steeves, who turns 26 next month, made the most of his chance. He came in with two NHL goals in his career. He doubled that total on Long Island.

He started the game on the fourth line, while Blumel got a chance to play with fellow Czechs David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha to open the game.

But Blumel was hurt in the opening minutes and didn’t return, forcing Sturm to juggle throughout. Steeves made the most of his minutes, leading Boston with four shots on goal and four hits.

“He did his job like he always does and that’s why he has my trust,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said after the game.

Steeves scored a big momentum goal after the Bruins fell behind 1-0. Planting himself in front of the net, he was in position to grab Sean Kuraly’s rebound and shoot it by Ilya Sorokin to both tie the game and give Boston momentum.

“Those kind of bounceback goals, you’ve got to have or it’s going to be a long night,” Sturm said.

Steeves’ second goal sealed the win in the third. On a rush with fellow rookie and former Leaf Fraser Minten, Steeves finished a give-and-go for the Bruins’ first shorthanded goal of the season with 9:39 left.

“He’s been playing great. He’s physical. He’s fast. He’s hard on pucks,” Tanner Jeannot said. “He got rewarded tonight for going hard to the net. On the second one, Fraser made a great play and he buried it.”

Steeves was uplifted after the game.

“It feels great. I’m not thinking I’m David Pastrnak all of a sudden. But it definitely gives me confidence,” he said. “It feels great to get rewarded on an individual level, but it feels even better to feel like I helped contribute to a big win.”