The Boston Bruins continue their stretch of eight out of 10 games on home ice with their first look at the New York Islanders, who are making their only visit to the TD Garden tonight.
Despite having plenty of off-ice distractions like the team's arena issues and the pending free agency of captain John Tavares, the Islanders find themselves in the top Eastern Conference wild card spot and just one point out of third place in the ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division.
The Islanders have been able to overcome mediocre goaltending with a powerful offensive attack. While the team has given up 3.39 goals per game, tied for the second most in the NHL, only the Tampa Bay Lightning have scored more than their 3.64 goals per game.
The Bruins should try extra hard to get the first goal tonight because New York is 10-0-0 when they score first and 9-0-0 when leading after the first period.
Bruce Cassidy held an optional skate this morning so we are not exactly sure where everybody will line up, but we do know that Tuukka Rask will start in goal. Rask is 10-5-0 with 2.39 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage in his career versus the Islanders.
