Things have been sour for the Bruins for a couple weeks now, but Boston certainly is hoping a little sweetening is on deck Thursday.
The Bruins will welcome another one of the Eastern Conference’s top squads, the New York Islanders, to TD Garden. The Bruins have lost six of their last seven games, with ugly setbacks against the lowly Ottawa Senators, Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings taking place in that stretch.
Few lineup changes are expected for the Bruins. The only two changes head coach Bruce Cassidy acknowledged after morning skate was Tuukka Rask starting in net and Connor Clifton slotting in for a sick John Moore.
Should the forward lines remain the same as Tuesday’s game, Charlie Coyle will play on the second line right wing, with Sean Kuraly centering the third unit and Chris Wagner the forth. In such a case, David Backes likely would be on the fourth line right wing.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams:
BOSTON BRUINS (21-7-7)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–David Krejci–Charlie Coyle
Anders Bjork–Sean Kuraly–Danton Heinen
Joakim Nordstrom–Chris Wagner–David Backes
Zdeno Chara–Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug–Brandon Carlo
Connor Clifton–Matt Grzelcyk
Tuukka Rask
NEW YORK ISLANDERS (22-8-2)
Ross Johnston–Mathew Barzal–Josh Bailey
Anthony Beauvillier–Brock Nelson–Tom Kuhnhackl
Anders Lee–Derick Brassard–Jordan Eberle
Matt Martin–Casey Cizikas–Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy–Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech–Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews–Scott Mayfield
Semyon Varlamov
