B's to Face Off vs. NHL's Best AHL Team for Matinee Matchup

Photo by Matt Stone/Boston Herald

The Bruins will play host to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers New York Islanders at the TD Banknorth Garden for the Bruins annual day after Thanksgiving matinee (12:00). Both teams are looking to avoid two game losing streaks. The Bruins will look to get back on track after dropping a 3-2 decision to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night. The Islanders jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Wednesday night against the Penguins before giving up 5 unanswered goals. After going 2-6-1 in the month of October, the Isles rebounded in November, going 7-5-1.

Just who are these Islanders that you speak of?
New York Islanders 9-11-2; 20 pts (5th in Atlantic, 10th in East)

Leading Goal Scorers
Trent Green 9 Goals (9-8-17)
Bill Guerin 9 Goals (9-7-16)

Goaltending
Joey MacDonald 19 GP 9-8-2; 2.84 GAA .909 Sv%
Rick DiPietro 3 GP 0-2-0; 3.91 GAA .883 Sv% (Injured)
Yann Danis 1 GP 0-1-0; 5.08 GAA .844 Sv%
Peter Mannino 0 GP

Guys Who Like to Drop the Gloves
Mitch Fritz: 3 Fighting Majors
Tim Jackman: 3 Fighting Majors
Nate Thompson (IR): 3 Fighting Majors

'08-'09 Season Series
First of 4 Meetings

Injury Report

Boston
Marco Sturm: Day to Day (Upper Body)
Andrew Ference: Out (Broken Tibia)

NY Islanders
Kyle Okposo: IR (Arm)
Fran Nielsen: Out (Knee)
Mike Comrie: IR (Hip Inflamation)
Nate Thompson: IR (Groin Strain)
Rick DiPietro: IR (Knee)
Mike Sillinger: IR (Hip)

Things to Look For:

- Today was no holiday for the B's. The team skated this morning in preparation for tomorrow's game. Most of the team is Canadian anyways, so they already had their Thanksgiving.

- The B's will be wearing their new black 3rd jersey and socks. Unfortunately, the Islanders will not be wearing their hidieous Gorton's Fisherman uniforms from the mid 90's.

- A lot of Islanders have New England connections. Bill Guerin (Wilbraham, MA) played for the Bruins and Boston College. Andy Hilbert, Nate Thompson, and Joey MacDonald all have spent time with the Bruins. Rick DiPietro (Winthrop, MA) and Freddy Meyer (Sanbornville, NH) played their college hockey at Boston University. Defenseman Thomas Pock played for UMass-Amherst.

- The Islanders have the worst 5 on 5 Goals For/Against Ratio (0.57). In case you were wondering, the Bruins rank #1 (1.58)

- The B's should look to jump out to an early lead. The Isles have a .182 win percentage when trailling first.

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