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Preview: The road trip continues as the Bruins visit Long Island

A giant dose of NY Metro Area.

By Dan.Ryan
Boston Bruins v New York Islanders Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images

Just the facts

When: 5 PM

Where: Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY

How to follow: NESN, NBCSN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Lighthouse Hockey

Know your enemy

  • 1-1-0, 2 points, t-5th in the East Division
  • Anders Lee, 2-0-2 in 2 games; Nick Leddy, 0-2-2 in 2 games
  • Semyon Varlamov started the first game and recorded a shutout, so his stats look pretty good: 100% save percentage, 0.00 GAA.

Game notes

  • Awwwwwwwww yeah, it’s the annual “SHULD OF DRAFT” Derby! The Bruins skip over Manhattan and head to Long Island, facing Mat Barzal and the New York Islanders. Good times.
  • We get a unique start for this one: 5 PM on a Monday, as the teams play a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day semi-matinee.
  • The Islanders have had a very bizarre start to the season. They played their cross-town rivals, the New York Rangers, twice. They pasted the Rangers in the season opener, winning 4-0 on Thursday. On Saturday, they played that same Rangers team and lost 5-0. Islanders lose on aggregate, 5-4.
  • Hey, if nothing else, at least Jakub Zboril should be playing in this year’s Barzal Battle! That helps...kind of.
  • We’re two games into the season, and the Bruins are already a bit banged up. Their best scorer remains out, and now, per Bruce Cassidy, Ondrej Kase is “doubtful” for this evening’s game. Craig Smith didn’t practice on Sunday either, though he’s more likely to go tonight.
  • Per reporters who were at practice on Sunday, the Bruins lines were looking pretty shuffled. Jake DeBrusk as 1RW, Jack Studnicka as 2RW...wild stuff. In all likelihood, these lines are placeholders as we wait for Smith to return, but if not...let’s get wild.
  • Assume that Tuukka Rask starts tonight, as Jaroslav Halak did fine on Saturday but didn’t get the W. It will be interesting to see if Cassidy goes with the “hot hand” at all this year or if, given the condensed schedule, he sticks to his “every other game” guns.
  • It’s unclear who will play in net for the Islanders tonight. Varlamov had a great season opener, but got hit in the neck/jaw with a Cal Clutterbuck shot in warm-ups before Game 2 and had to sit. It remains to be seen if he’ll be healthy enough to be back in net Monday night.

See ya...this evening? At dinner time? TONIGHT!