The Boston Bruins will look to continue their franchise-best start when they visit the struggling New York Islanders.
The Bruins hold a record of 11 wins, two losses and two overtime losses. In their latest victory, the team defeated the Florida Panthers 4-1. "We had four straight minutes to kill, and our guys seem to have a lot of confidence and determination now," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "They like the way things are going right now with the penalty kill, and it's been one our strengths. We came up big. Had they scored at the beginning of the third it could have been a different game."
The New York Islanders are coming off a 4-2 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes in which they blew a 2-0 loss. Coach Jack Capuano had harsh words to play for his team after the loss. "We didn't play obviously the way we needed to play," Capuano said. "We told them before the game we're two spots out of a playoff spot. No emotion, no spirit in the room. I could see it going into the game."
Regarding the lack of leadership he added, "At some point, the room's gotta take over. We talked about taking ownership, our leaders, our guys, the coaches, we all gotta do better."
He also stated "I saw our [defense] turn way too much tonight, I saw way too many giveaways by our forwards and our [defense] and you're not gonna be successful playing like that. If you want to play individualistic, go play golf or tennis."
This is the second meeting of the season between these two teams; Boston took the first meeting on Jan. 25 by the score of 4-2.
Predictions: The Islanders will struggle but I think they manage to pull out the victory in front of their home fans; 4-3 Islanders.
Start Time: 7 PM EST
TV: NBCSN