B's solve Coliseum curse; Club wins on Long Island for first time in 11 games.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - It's been nearly six years since the Boston Bruins enjoyed a visit to the Nassau Coliseum.

Tim Thomas stopped 33 shots to help the Bruins win for the first time on Long Island in 11 games, 3-1 over the New York Islanders last night.

Glen Murray, Petteri Nokelainen and Chuck Kobasew scored for Boston, which was 0-5-4-1 at the Islanders' arena since a 4-2 victory on Dec. 22, 2001.

"We played well, except for a couple of breakdowns near the end," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "We got some timely goals, and our power play came up big, obviously."

Chris Campoli broke New York's shutout streak with 1:51 left in the game. The Islanders had been blanked for the previous 140 minutes, 12 seconds. The goal didn't prevent New York from its first three-game losing streak this season.

New York has gone 13 straight games scoring two goals or fewer in regulation and overtime.

"We're not trying to split the atom here," Islanders captain Bill Guerin said. "We're playing hockey, and we all have had some success one way or another. We all know how to play.

"You just have to work through it. Look at New Jersey. Now, they've won seven in a row. We're not out of it."

Rick DiPietro, who got a respite on Saturday night after starting 18 straight games, turned aside 19 shots for the Islanders.

Boston opened the scoring at 13:03 of the opening period while on the power play. Murray found himself with the puck in the right circle, and sent a perfect wrist shot off the far post and in.

Murray has five of his eight goals this season in his last six games.

Earlier, Thomas made a right pad kick save on Josef Vasicek's shot from the slot to keep the Islanders off the board.

DiPietro got busy at the end of the period, as he came up with four saves on two separate flurries in the last 16 seconds of the period to keep the game close.

In the second period, Thomas used his left pad to thwart Guerin's rebound try at 3:44 on the Islanders' power play. Guerin has no goals in his last 14 games.

The Bruins scored in the second when Islanders defenseman Andy Sutton fanned on a pass. Nokelainen picked up the puck, moved in on DiPietro and lifted a shot over the goalie's shoulder and just under the crossbar for a 2-0 lead with 1:56 left in the period.

"I think he lost control of it a bit," Nokelainen said. "Sometimes, you get lucky."

Kobasew scored his team leading 11th goal with 3:25 left on a short shot, nine seconds into a power play.

Islanders coach Ted Nolan is frustrated with his team's lack of goal scoring. Calling up forward Jeff Tambellini from Bridgeport on Sunday night didn't help, though Tambellini had 21 points in his last 20 games for the Sound Tigers.

"What's wrong with the offense? A lot," Nolan said. "We've just got to work harder. It comes down to be a little more gritty, a little hungrier. We're OK. OK just doesn't cut it."

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro defends the net as the Bruins' Glen Metropolit moves the puck past New York's Mike Sillinger. (2) New York's Radek Martinek tries to poke the puck away from Boston's Phil Kessel. (3) Boston's Petteri Nokelainen is congratulated after scoring in the second period.

PHOTOG: ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS