After winning last night against the New Jersey Devils, the Boston Bruins return back home to take on the New York Islanders. With the win last night, the Bruins moved into first in the Northeast division and are a point ahead of the Montreal Canadians. Both the B’s and the Habs play tonight so the Bruins will need a win if they are trying to stay the number two seed in the Eastern Conference.
Can Pevs maintain his point streak? (Credit: Flickr/Slidingsideways)
A Costly Battle for the B’s:
The Bruins were already without Patrice Bergeron, now the question is how serious was the elbow to the head Brad Marchand took last night? Bergeron was seen practicing on the ice this morning so hopefully that means he’ll be back before playoffs. However, Marchand was being evaluated this morning and there is still no word on his injury. Another bright side because let’s be serious with all these injuries we could use one, is that Adam McQuaid may return to the lineup tonight. Quaider is a solid defenseman and I have been saying the B’s defense is weak lately so maybe this will turn that around.
Islanders Playoff Bound:
For the first time since the 2006-07 season, the New York Islanders are on the verge of clinching a playoff invitation. In their past nine games, the Isles are 7-1-1. They are currently tied for 7th place with the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers with 44 points. Needless to say they will be coming into this game looking for two points.
Bruins Look for Sweep:
This is the third and final meeting between the two teams in regular season with the Bruins having one the previous two. In those games, the Isles were outscored 8-3. Tuukka Rask got the start for both those games and with him sitting out last night, it’s expected he’ll start tonight. If playoff’s started today the B’s would be the second seed and the Isles the seventh, meaning they would play each other. When you watch the game tonight keep that in mind!
Who’s HOT?
Jaromir Jagr (four assists) and Rich Peverley (one goal, three assists) have each tallied four points over the past two contests. Isles center John Tavares has three goals and three assists over the past five games, while winger Josh Bailey is 2-3-5 over the same span.
You can check out the game tonight at 7pm on NESNPLUS!
A Cup A Bruin 