The Boston Bruins are in Long Island for their final regular-season game against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.
The Isles are moving to Brooklyn for next season, but they aren’t finished racking up wins and making memories at the Coliseum.
The Islanders were led by captain John Tavares and goaltender Jaroslav Halak to an impressive 4-1 win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night in their first game after the All-Star break. New York’s 17 home wins are the second-most in the Eastern Conference, and it owns a 3-1-0 record against Boston since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
Unfortunately for the Islanders, top-line right winger Kyle Okposo won’t play Thursday night because of an upper body injury that will keep him out of the lineup for six to eight weeks. Veteran forward Mikhail Grabovski is expected to skate in his place alongside Tavares.
The Bruins exit the All-Star break hoping to regain the form they displayed in their previous 10 January games. The B’s are 6-1-3 this month and have taken points from 13 of their last 15 games dating back to an overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 21.
Tuukka Rask was the first goalie off the ice at the Bruins’ morning skate, which is normally an indication that he will start.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams:
BOSTON BRUINS (25-16-7, fourth in Atlantic)
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Craig Cunningham
Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg-Adam McQuaid
Torey Krug-Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
NEW YORK ISLANDERS (32-14-1, first in Metropolitan)
Josh Bailey-John Tavares-Mikhail Grabovski
Anders Lee-Frans Nielsen-Ryan Strome
Michael Grabner-Brock Nelson-Nikolay Kulemin
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy-Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan-Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey-Brian Strait
Jaroslav Halak
Click to read a Bruins-Islanders preview>>
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
