As the Boston Bruins have railroaded the entire East Division this season, one team has given them trouble: The New York Islanders.
And on Thursday, the B's -- riding high from a thrashing of the Philadelphia Flyers at Lake Tahoe -- will have a chance to buck that trend. The two sides will meet at 7 p.m. ET at Nassau Coliseum in the third meeting between the two sides this season, with the Isles claiming the first two matchups.
With Jeremy Lauzon out, Bruce Cassidy (a noted reader of NESN.com, perhaps?) is putting Urho Vaakanainen on the top pairing with Charlie McAvoy.
Cassidy confirmed Jakub Zboril is good to go, so he slots in with Brandon Carlo, while John Moore and Connor Clifton form the third pairing.
David Krejci remains out, so the middle six will consist of a Nick Ritchie-Charlie Coyle-Craig Smith second line, with a young third unit of Anders Bjork and Jake DeBrusk on the wings with Jack Studnicka between them.
Jaroslav Halak will be in net for the Bruins, and likely will be opposed by Semyon Varlamov.
Here are the projected lineups for Thursday's Bruins-Islanders game.
BOSTON BRUINS (11-3-2)
Brad Marchand--Patrice Bergeron--David Pastrnak
Nick Ritchie--Charlie Coyle--Craig Smith
Anders Bjork--Jack Studnicka--Jake DeBrusk
Trent Frederic--Sean Kuraly--Chris Wagner
Urho Vaakanainen--Charlie McAvoy
Jakub Zboril--Brandon Carlo
John Moore--Connor Clifton
Jaroslav Halak
NEW YORK ISLANDERS (9-6-3)
Anders Lee--Mathew Barzal--Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier--Brock Nelson--Josh Bailey
Austin Czarnik--J.G. Pageau--Oliver Wahlstrom
Matt Martin--Casey Cizikas--Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech--Ryan Pulock
Nick Leddy--Scott Mayfield
Andy Greene--Noah Dobson
Semyon Varlamov
