clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Preview: Bruins’ playoff seeding can be determined tonight against Islanders

The Bruins look to bounce back from Saturday’s disastrous ending.

By Angelina.Berube
NHL: APR 16 Islanders at Bruins Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 7:00 PM

Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA

How to follow: NESN+, SNE, SNO, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Lighthouse Hockey

Know your enemy

  • 32-17-6, 70 points, 4th in the East Division
  • Mathew Barzal: 54GP, 16G, 27A, 43PTS; Josh Bailey: 53GP, 8G, 27A, 35PTS; Brock Nelson: 55GP, 18G, 15A, 33PTS; Jordan Eberle: 54GP, 16G, 17A, 33PTS
  • Semyon Varlamov: 19-11-4, 2.02 GAA, .930 save percentage

Game notes

  • The Boston Bruins will face the New York Islanders tonight for their last regular season match-up between them and conclude their last homestand. The Bruins are 2-3-2 against the Islanders this season. The Bruins have shut out the Islanders once and have also been blanked by the Isles once. The Bruins won their last two games against them, the back-to-back series on April 15 and 16, beating the Islanders by three goals in both games.
  • The Bruins last saw the Islanders on April 16, shutting them out 3-0. David Pastrnak, Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar added the tallies. Jeremy Swayman earned his first professional shutout with 25 saves.
  • As the Bruins wrap up their last regular season home game, the Bruins have faired well at the TG Garden this year. They are 16-7-3 in games played in Boston, not including the “home” win that was the Outdoor Classic. The B’s longest win streak at home was seven games, from April 13 to May 6.
  • With the B’s loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday, they can finish no higher than the third seeding even if they win both remaining games because of tiebreakers. The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched the division yesterday with their win over the Buffalo Sabres. If the Bruins win tonight, they will see the Washington Capitals in the first round. If they lose, the Islanders would slide into third with a point over the Bruins and final seeding would be determined on Tuesday. Two regulation losses would automatically see the Bruins facing the Penguins in round one.
  • Milestones: Nick Ritchie’s goal on Saturday gave him 15 tallies this season, which is a career-high for him. Charlie McAvoy is two assists away from 100 NHL assists. Brad Marchand is three points away from a 70-point season. This is Marchand’s fifth most productive season since 2009.
  • Tuukka Rask will make the start tonight and Swayman is expected to get the final game tomorrow. Against the Islanders, Rask is 1-2-0. He left the March 25 game after being injured in the first period.
  • Ondrej Kase is also expected to return to the lineup tonight. He participated in yesterday’s optional skate, but a final decision will be made by the medical staff this morning. Bruce Cassidy said he’s ready to put him in as soon as he’s available to go and he could play both games if he needs and is able to at this point. Kase hasn’t played since January 16 as he’s been out with an upper-body injury.

See ya tonight!