The Bruins will be playing for their 45th win of the season this afternoon when they play host to the New York Islanders. The Islanders currently have the fewest points of any team in the NHL and are looking like front-runners for the Tavares lottery. However, former Baby B's head coach Scott Gordon has the Islanders playing some spirited hockey lately. The Isles have won 3 of their last 4 games.
Just who are these Islanders you speak of?
New York Islanders 23-37-8 (54 pts); 5th in Atlantic, 15th in East
Leading Scorer
Goaltending
Guy Who Likes to Drop the Gloves
Tim Jackman: 17 Fighting Majors, 131 PIMs
'08-'09 Season Series
Bruins Record vs. Islanders: 2-0-0
11/28 vs. NYI 7-2 W
1/15 @ NYI 2-1 W
Injury Report
Notes:
- As you can see, the Islanders are pretty banged up right now. I think this is only a sample of all the injuries that the Islanders are experiencing right now. You add Kurtis McLean, Trent Hunter, and Richard Park to the list above. Expect to see the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at The Garden this afternoon.
- The Bruins can not take this team lightly. Last time they played back on January 15th, the Bruins came out flat and the Islanders came at them early with a ton of energy. A team full of young players trying to win a job with the big club can be a very dangerous team to play. This is the moral Stanley Cup for the Islanders. They would like nothing more than to slay Goliath.
- I think this would be a great opportunity to get Manny Fernandez a start. He desperately needs to turn in a good performance and get his confidence back. Plus, the Bruins have back-to-back afternoon games.
- The Islanders are 7-23-3 on the road.
- The islanders have the league's worst 5 on 5 ratio (even strength goals for divided by even strength goals against) at 0.72. The Bruins own the league's best 5 on 5 ratio (1.48).
- The Islanders have struggled with face-offs this season (45.8%, 29th in NHL).
- Game starts at 1:00, public skate (open thread) starts at noon.
- For more on the Islanders, check out Lighthouse Hockey.
Today's Obligatory Embarrassing YouTube Fan Video Photo
H/T to Puck Daddy for the photo. As someone who never got to see Tim Duncan in Celtics Green, I think this is a horrible move by this guy. It's a good thing that this photo doesn't show his face because he might be targeted as a scapegoat for bringing the Islanders some serious bad karma.