Islanders vs. Bruins: Odds, Lineups, Retiring 91 and more

The New York Islanders host the Boston Bruins in a Saturday matinee. Here’s everything to know about the matchup and the pregame ceremony.

The New York Islanders have picked up points in their last 4 games going 2-0-2. The Islanders come into this matchup after losing in overtime, 3-2,  to the Blues on Thursday night.

The Bruins are currently the best team in the NHL and are coming off a 4-3 win on Thursday night against the Stars. Coming into today, the Bruins are 3-2-0 in their last five.

Some see today as a must-win for the Islanders, with the Flyers and the Rangers playing last night and tomorrow against each other. In a tight playoff race, every point matters.

But before we dive into this matchup, lets talk about before the game:

Before the game, the Islanders will be retiring Butch Goring and his number 91 into the rafters. The Ceremony will take place at 11:40 am and doors to the barn will open at 10:30. You definitely do not want to miss this!

Also, another big announcement is set to happen before the game! Governor Cuomo is set to announce the Islanders will be hosting all playoff games for this season and all games next season at the Coliseum!

The Season Series

The season series between the Islanders and Bruins has definitely been a fun one to watch. Both games have gone past regulation with one game ending in a shootout and the other ending in overtime.

The first time these teams met was on December 19th in Boston. This game was great to watch. The Bruins got off to an early 1-0 lead courtesy of Anders Bjork. The Isles answered back with 2 goals in the second and then the Bruins tied it up in the third and regulation ended tied.

Overtime was a back and fourth encounter with both teams having high quality scoring chances. The game went into a shootout where both Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle put on a show and scored goals. While Semyon Varlamov stopped all three shots faced and gave the Isles the 3-2 victory!

The next time these teams met was in Brooklyn on January 11th. The Islanders started the game strong with a Scott Mayfield goal and the Isles finished the first period up 1-0. The Bruins scored 2 unanswered goals in the second and third to have the lead at the midway point of the third.

With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, Barzal took his chance and tied the game up for the blue and orange. The game finished regulation tied.

In overtime, the Isles took a penalty and that’s all the Bruins needed. Patrice Bergeron scored on the powerplay to give the Bruins a 3-2 Win.

Today is the last game of the season series!

Tale of the Tape

As shown by the Tale of the Tape, the Bruins clearly dominate every stat. But hockey is not played on paper and the Islanders have matched-up extremely well against Boston so far this season.

Betting Odds

The Islanders come into today as the underdogs, courtesy of the Action Network.

We would have expected the Islanders to be underdogs due to the fact that they are coming up against the best team in the NHL. As stated above, the Islanders have matched-up well against Boston and today should be no different.

I expect this to be a one goal game, just like the first two games of this series and should be a great game to watch!

Isles Country: Leave Your Score Predictions In The Comments Below!

Keys to the Game

Special Teams

Anytime the Bruins play, special teams becomes a factor. The Bruins are top five in the league in both powerplay and penalty kill percentage.

The Islanders must stay out of the box and not give the Bruins any man advantages!

Special teams can definitely make a difference in today’s game. It made a difference the last time these teams met.

The Islanders only took one penalty in regulation, but then they took another in overtime. The Bruins powerplay scored and that was the difference in the game.

Other than that, five on five was a completely even game.

The Islanders need to stay out of the box and if given they are given any man advantages, they must capitalize on them.

Stay on the Attack

For back to back games the Islanders have started off the game strong. In both games, the ice was tilted and the Islanders had definitely controlled the game.

Especially last game, they completely lost all momentum they had from the first period and the Isles offense was pretty much non-existent for the second and third.

Today, the Islanders must stay on the attack!

They must pressure and push Boston for the whole game. Against Boston, the best defense is a great offense. Boston cannot score if they do not have the puck.

The Islanders will have success if they keep the puck out of their own end, limit turnovers and force their game on Boston.