After a too-close call against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, the surging Bruins bring their seven game win streak to Long Island to face the (permanently?) slumping Islanders. New York has only won two of their past 12 games, and in many of those, they failed to get their offense going, which bodes well for Boston as Tim Thomas is expected to have the start tonight in goal.

For the Bruins, tonight’s game is an opportunity to gain some more ground in the Northeast Division. Boston currently sits one point behind an idle Ottawa and two points behind Toronto, who is on a mini-slide since a hot start and facing the Washington Capitals tonight.

While the Bruins offense didn’t get on the scoreboard often against the Blue Jackets, a recent injury to Evgeni Nabokov means the Bruins will likely be facing former first overall pick Rick DiPietro tonight. Even though DiPietro has won his last two games, he has only appeared in five total games this season and only 10 total games since his much-publicized fight with Brent Johnson, so the Bruins are looking to get the offense restarted tonight while DiPietro may still be getting comfortable with every-day duties.

The Bruins are looking at a great opportunity to keep the winning streak alive tonight – they’ll have their number one goalie back in net, rested and ready to go, and a red-hot offense which has scored 36 goals during November facing off against a goalie who has become more comfortable sitting on the bench than tending the net.

Islanders SB Nation Site: Lighthouse Hockey

Boston Bruins at New York Islanders, 7 p.m. EST   TV: NESN

Public Skate will be open at 6:30 p.m. EST