Two in a Row?

David Krejci looks to continue his scoring streak! (Credit:slidingsideways/flickr)

The Boston Bruins haven’t won two in a row since January but they’re looking to finally get over that speed bump today in a matinee game against the New York Islander. The Islanders are hanging out at 14th place in the Eastern Conference while the Bruins are 2nd. I would say this means great things for the B’s for the game today, however when it comes to playing bottom ranked teams the Bruins aren’t exactly amazing. The B’s have won the last two against the Islanders this season  scoring 6 goals each time. This game is important for the simple fact that the B’s are holding onto first place in the Northeast division by only 3 points with the Ottawa Senators in second.

Who’s Hurt:
Andrew Ference left Thursday’s game in the third with a lower body injury and wasn’t at practice yesterday. Rich Peverley is on route to return in the next 4-6 weeks with a MCL sprain in his knee. On the bright side, Johnny Boychuk has been skating with the team after getting a nasty hit last Saturday though when he returns is still unknown.
On the Isles side goalie Al Montoya left their road trip early with an upper body injury and was replaced on the roster by Anders Nilsson. Defenseman Dylan Reese is out with a knee injury but is expected to return soon.

Who’s Hot:
David Krejci!! Let me just say how happy this makes me to put him in this category. After Tyler Seguin joined Krejci and Milan Lucic’s line, the results have been magic. Krejci and Seguin both ended their scoring drought but Krejci decided to not just end it but trample it with a hat trick. Islander wise the Bruins need to watch out for scoring machines Matt Moulson and P.A. Parenteau.

Who to Watch For:
With Ference and Boychuk out, I expect to see former Islander and newly acquired Bruins Mike Mottau get in the lineup. Mottau is excited to play against his former team and had this to say this morning:

“You might know some tendencies of their forward play, or their D and what they try to do – their systems and stuff.” added the new B’s D-man. “But overall it’s just the same game and no friends out there.” (Via NHLBruins)

Today’s game is really going to come down to the goals. The Islanders have been very quick to get on the board lately but the Bruins still hold the edge of the team. I think the Bruins just need to not get complacent. The new lines seem to be working well and after today’s game we could either FINALLY have two wins in a row or be right back where we started. As for who is getting the start, I’m thinking Tuukka Rask but we’ll just have to wait another hour or so to find out!

Puck drops at 1 on NESN.