Eastern Conference Showdown: Bruins Versus Islanders

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!

Bruins Busy Stretch Begins

Starting tonight the Boston Bruins will play 31 games in 66 days. With a shortened season, every game is equally important and there is no room for errors. Tonight the Bruins will take on the New York Islanders, hoping to make it a 4-out-of-5 wins roadtrip. The Bruins are 11-2-2 while the Islanders are 8-10-1. The Bruins are obviously off to a great start but they’ve only played 15 games thus far while everyone else has played at least 17. To make up for it, it’s full speed ahead for the team in a playoff paced schedule.

Tuukka Rask has been on his A-Game thus far! (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

B’s Nearly Perfect PK:
Game after game, the Bruins penalty kill proves to be consistent. The B’s lead the league with a 94.8% of penalty kills that leads the NHL by a fair margin. In 15 games, the B’s have let up only 3 power play goals. In their most recent game Sunday against the Florida Panthers, the Bruins PK was 4-for-4. They have gone 6 straight games without letting up a goal with a man (or sometimes two) down (19-for-19).

Optimistic Islanders:
This is the second time the two teams are meeting, with Boston taking the first match but don’t count out the Isles just yet. They have won 4 of the last seven games, including a 5-1 victory over defending Eastern Conference Champs New Jersey Devils. After a few bad seasons, you can only go up right?

Who’s hot:
Once again, Tuukka Rask is mentioned in this section for his strong goaltending. His is 5-0-1 in his last six starts, and in that stretch didn’t give up more then two goals. Islanders, you can have Tim Thomas! All kidding aside, Rask’s strong performance is definitely part of the reason the B’s have done so well thus far.

On the Isles side of things is Center John Tavares who is tied for the League lead with 13 goals and 12 assists. He is in the top three in the NHL in total scoring. Basically, he should have a target on his back tonight.

Puck drops at 7:30 tonight and you can check out the game on NESN or NBCSN!

For the Islanders side of things here on Aerys Sports, click here!

 

Will the B’s Remain Unbeaten?

In the first three games this season, the Bruins have managed to pick up 5 out of 6 points. This is exactly the start the boys needed and tonight they look to continue it against the New York Islanders. This is the first of three meetings between the teams, and the first of two times the Islanders will come to the TD Garden. Last year, the Bruins took three out of four games against the Islanders, though the lone victory for NY came in Boston.

It’s Tuukka Time in Boston! (Credit: Flickr/Steph Vail)

The Bruins as of now are unbeaten, but they will need to work on scoring but as they have only managed seven non shootout goals thus far. In each of the Bruins victories against the Islanders last year they scored six goals.

The Islanders in a nutshell:
In the past five seasons, the Islanders have missed the playoffs so it’s safe to say little was expected this year. HOWEVER, they are coming to Boston off of a 7-4 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They are currently 2-1-0 for the season.

Who to watch out for:
–John Tavares has 5 assists in two games.
–Michael Grabner has 3 goals and 5 points in three games.
-The Islanders penalty kill is currently 10-for-10 and have a shorthanded goal.

Bruins best:
-Both Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand lead the team with 2 goals apiece in 3 games.
–Tuukka Rask has proven that he is the B’s number one goalie having a 2-0-1 record with a 1.95 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage.
-The “new and improved” Bruins power play finally scored their first PP goal.
–Dougie Hamilton picked up his first (of many to come) NHL points.
–Nathan Horton scored his first goal of the season, and first goal in a year after coming back from a concussion.

Injury Report:
The Islanders will be without forwards Josh Bailey (knee surgery) and Jesse Joensuu (groin). On the Bruins end, their only injury is Dennis Seidenberg and he is considered day-to-day. As of this morning, he was on the ice practicing with the team so he could very well return to the lineup tonight.

Puck drops tonight at 7pm and you can check out the game on NESN!

For a look at the Islander’s side of the game, check out Arbour Day!