Saturday night, the Boston Bruins second-round series against the New York Islanders started. At first, the game looked close from just looking at the score as the game was tied 2-2 after 40 minutes.
However, the B’s were actually dominating the game, having a hefty lead in attack time and shots on goal. The flood gates finally broke in period three where the Black and Gold would score three goals and down the Isles 5-2.
Tonight, Boston will be looking to do the same thing in Game 2. However, it won’t be easy as Isles’ head coach Barry Trotz most certainly made adjustments and the B’s are being forced to make some lineup changes due to injury.
I’m sure, just like Game 1, tonight’s game will be close in score. However, I’m not sure if the B’s will be able to control the game like they did in Game 1. We’ll just have to watch and see.
Boston Bruins – New York Islanders Game 2 projected lineups.
Boston Bruins (3rd seed)
Lead series 1-0 (eliminated No. 2 Capitals 4-1)
As mentioned earlier, the B’s lineup for tonight is going to look a bit different from their lineup for Game 1. This has nothing to do with how anyone played in the game, but rather that right Craig Smith will not play after suffering a lower-body injury after a leg-to-leg collision with Cal Clutterbuck.
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Smith suffered the injury in the third period of Game 1. He left the game and didn’t return. B’s head coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t have much of an update since then, saying his status for Game 2 is unknown. However, it was clear that Smith wouldn’t be playing tonight after missing today’s morning skate. Cassidy confirmed Smith will not play and is considered day-to-day in his media time afterwards.
While Smith will not play tonight, defenseman Matt Grzelcyk looks good to go. Grzelcyk was banged up in the second period of Game 1 after taking a couple of heavy hits from Leo Komarov. Grizz left the game for a bit, but came back just a few minutes later and finished the game.
Unlike Smith, Grzelcyk participated in today’s morning skate. Cassidy also didn’t say anything abut Grzelcyk during his media time, so it appears Grizz is fine and will play tonight.
With Smith out, Karson Kuhlman will slot into the lineup for tonight. However, he will not being taking Smith’s spot on the second line. Instead, Jake DeBrusk will move up from the third line, and Kuhlman will take DeBrusk’s spot there.
Expect the Bruins to look like this tonight:
Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak
Hall – Krejci – DeBrusk
Ritchie – Coyle – Kuhlman
Kuraly – Lazar – Wagner
Grzelcyk – McAvoy
Reilly – Carlo
Lauzon – Clifton
Rask (Swayman)
New York Islanders (4th seed)
Trail series 0-1 (eliminated No. 1 Penguins 4-2)
Trotz has confirmed that the Isles will be dressing the same forwards from Game 1, however, he has hinted at making some changes to his lines. He has not confirmed these changes nor relinquished what they could be.
Additionally, Trotz has yet to reveal who his starting goaltender will be for tonight. After making 35 saves on 39 shots in Game 1, Ilya Sorokin may be moved to the bench for veteran Semyon Varlamov, who lost his starting job after an abysmal performance in Game 3 against the Penguins. When asked about who will start tonight, Trotz simply said, “It will be a Russian left-handed goaltender.” Both Varlamov and Sorokin are Russian and left-handed, so that doesn’t help.
When it comes to the forwards lines, Trotz has a lot of options to play with. The one change he will most likely make is moving Komarov down to the third line. After that, it’s a crapshoot. He could bring Kyle Palmieri up to play 1LW. He could move Josh Bailey up to that spot and put Palmieri at 2RW. Or, what he’ll most likely do, is bring Travis Zajac up from 3RW to 3LW and move Palmieri over to right wing.
Anyway, for now, all we know is what the Islanders’ defense will look like.
Pelech – Pulock
Leddy – Mayfield
Greene – Dobson
Where and when to watch Boston Bruins – New York Islanders Game 2.
Time: 7:30 PM EST
Location: TD Garden
TV Broadcast: NBCSN, TVAS, TVAS2, SN1
Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub
Overall, I think the B’s have a good chance to take a 2-0 series lead to Long Island. However, they’re going to need all hands on deck tonight and some scoring from other than David Pastrnak.