Bruins vs Islanders 1/29 Preview: Hockey is Back

Just the Facts:

Game Time: 7:00 PM, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

TV Broadcast: NESN, MSG+

Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SB Nation Site: Lighthouse Hockey

Season Record: Bruins: 25-16-7, 4th in Atlantic Division | Islanders 32-14-1, 1st in Metropolitan Division

Islanders Lines:

Mikhail Grabovski - John Tavares - Josh Bailey

Anders Lee - Frans Nielsen - Ryan Strome

Michael Grabner - Brock Nelson - Nikolay Kulemin

Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck

Defensive Pairings:

Calvin de Haan - Travis Hamonic

Nick Leddy - Johnny Boychuk

Thomas Hickey - Brian Strait

Goalies: Jaroslav Halak, Chad Johnson

IR: Matt Carkner, Kyle Okposo, Lubomir Visnovsky

Bruins Lines:

Milan Lucic - David Krejci - David Pastrnak

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Reilly Smith

Chris Kelly - Carl Soderberg - Loui Eriksson

Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Craig Cunningham

Defensive Pairings:

Zdeno Chara - Dougie Hamilton

Dennis Seidenberg - Adam McQuaid

Torey Krug - Kevan Miller

Goalies: Tuukka Rask, Niklas Svedberg

Game Notes:

• This is going to be a difficult two-week stretch for the Bruins, featuring the Islanders twice, the Kings, the Rangers, and the gross team from Canada.
• Islanders forward Kyle Okposo will be out six to eight weeks with an upper-body injury. He's the second-leading scorer for the Islanders, with 44 points in 46 games. The Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders will miss Okposo's consistency, but tonight will be a test regardless.
• The Islanders are currently the second highest-scoring team in the league, with 102 goals for at even strength. The Bruins are ranked 22, with 90 goals at even strength.
• Boston's defense has shown great improvement. This season, they have had 83 goals against (even strength) compared to New York's 88.

NEVER FORGET:

All-Star Game in Fancy Stats

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