Despite their geographic proximity, the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders don't cross paths often in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The teams will face off Saturday at TD Garden in Game 1 of their 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs second-round series. It's just the third Bruins-Islanders Stanley Cup Playoffs meeting all time and first in 38 years.
Prior to puck drop, let's revisit the last time B's and Isles met in the playoffs: May 7, 1983, in Game 6 of the Wales Conference Final. NHL Public Relations on Saturday offered this succinct recap of what sounds like a wild game.
" ... Butch Goring opened the scoring just 33 seconds in, and Mike Bossy scored four goals in an 8-4 Islanders victory to lift the then-three-time defending Stanley Cup champions to a Game 6 win at Nassau Coliseum."
The Game 6 win over Boston clinched the series for the Islanders, and the New York dynasty went on to win the last of its four consecutive Stanley Cup championships.
The Bruins are hoping Game 1 turns out better than it did in their previous two playoff series with the Islanders: New York beat Boston in 1980 in the first round and in that 1983 Conference Final.
The Bruins went 3-3-2 against the Islanders in their eight regular-season games in 2020-21.
NESN networks will air a full hour of Bruins-Islanders pregame coverage, with "Bruins Face-Off Live: Second Round" starting at 7 p.m. ET on NESN+. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m., and NBC will air the game. Be sure to return to NESN and NESN+ for a full hour of postgame coverage, as "Bruins Overtime Live: Second Round" will start after the final horn, and "Bruins Postgame Final: Second Round" will follow.
