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 Ar

See Full Page