The Boston Bruins continue their 2021 season tonight against the New York Islanders. So far this season, the B’s have had basically no success against the Isles, going 0-3-2 in five games against the Long Island-based team.
However, the last two games against the Islanders have shown great improvement by the Black and Gold. Unlike two of the first three games, Boston was able to avoid a third period meltdown and get a point.
The story against the Isles this season has been third period meltdowns and an inability to score. It looks like Boston fixed the third period meltdown issues in their last two games against the Islanders, now they just need to find a way to score. This is where trade deadline acquisition Taylor Hall comes in.
However, while the B’s finally upgraded their top-six, the Isles also improved their forward corps as they went out and acquired winger Kyle Palmieri to replace captain Anders Lee as their power forward/net front presence and forward Travis Zajac to fill any role needed.
Boston Bruins vs New York Islanders projected lineups.
Boston Bruins
Record: 22-12-6 (50 points)
The B’s will be going with a very similar lineup of the one they went with against the Buffalo Sabres. However, defenseman Jakub Zboril will be in the lineup tonight as Kevan Miller will be out with an injury unrelated to his surgically repaired knee.
Right wing Ondrej Kase is still out and still has no timetable of a return and defensemen Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo are still out with injuries. Defenseman Jarred Tinordi will be a healthy scratch after playing last game.
Goaltender Tuukka Rask is expected to make his return from an upper-body injury tonight and will be in net. Jaroslav Halak is still out with COVID-19 so Jeremy Swayman will be backing up Rask.
Expect the Bruins to look like this tonight:
Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak
Hall – Krejci – Smith
Ritchie – Coyle – DeBrusk
Kuraly – Lazar – Wagner
Lauzon – McAvoy
Reilly – Kampfer
Zboril – Clifton
Rask (Swayman)
New York Islanders
Record: 27-11-4 (58 points)
As I mentioned earlier, the Islanders will look a bit different from the last time the B’s saw them. Before the deadline, the Isles added forwards Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac, adding some much needed scoring and overall forward depth to the team.
Expect the Islanders to look like this tonight:
Zajac – Barzal – Eberle
Beauvillier – Nelson – Bailey
Palmieri – Pageau – Wahlstrom
Martin – Cizikas – Clutterbuck
Pelech – Pulock
Leddy – Mayfield
Greene – Dobson
Varlamov (Sorokin)
Where and when to watch Boston Bruins vs New York Islanders.
Time: 7 PM EST
Location TD Garden
TV Broadcast: NESN, MSG+, SN360
Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub
As it typically has been this season, this game will be difficult for the B’s. The Islanders play a tough game and are hard to score against with their relentless forecheck and defensively sound structure.