Two of the NHL's top three teams met head to head last night at Boston Garden before a sell-out crowd--and the New York Islanders came out on top with a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.

Mike Bossy put home the winner at 5:39 of the final period, when he backhanded a rebound past Boston goaltender Gerry Cheevers to give New York a 3-1 lead. The goal was Bossy's 38th of the season, which leads the NHL.

A shorthanded tally by Bobby Schmautz less than two minutes later closed the gap to one, but clutch goaltending by Glenn "Chico" Resch frustrated the Bruins the rest of the game. New York's Garry Howatt sealed the victory with an open-net goal at 19:27.

No Probs

In the first period, the Bruins had few problems keeping the Islanders in check. Dwight Foster set up veteran Wayne Cashman, who rifled a wrist shot past Resch to put Boston on the board, and three New York power plays failed miserably.

But a superb individual effort by league scoring leader Bryan Trottier at 18:14 evened the score. Trottier batted a loose puck into the Boston zone, then split two defenders before regaining possession and sliding the rubber past Cheevers from a prone position.

A former Bruin returned to haunt his old teammates at 7:47 of the second stanza, when "Steady" Eddie Westfall finished a give-and-go with occasional linemate Bobby Bourne by converting Bourne's cross-goalmouth pass. Though outshot 20-8 through two period (30-17 on the evening), the Islanders held a 2-1 edge.

In other area hockey action, defending NCAA champion Boston University had its gloves full Wednesday night with hardchecking RPI, but some key late saves by goalie Jim Craig--who suffered a concussion 7:23 into the third period in a collision with the Engineers' Mike McPhee--helped the Terriers to a 5-3 win at Walter Brown Arena.