Get Something Bruin, Gm 44: Islanders vs. Bruins, Game Notes, & More

After a 1-3-0 road trip, the New York Islanders (17-20-6) return home to face the Boston Bruins (27-16-4) at UBS Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 PM ET.

The New York Islanders are coming off a rather underwhelming 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. They were outplayed by an Atlantic Division bottom feeder in a game they needed to have given their position in the standings.

Now their attention is on a Boston Bruins team, the team that holds the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They are 18 points up on the Islanders, who have four games in hand.

“We need to find our game right now to give us a chance,” Ryan Pulock said following Thursday’s morning skate. “There’s no give-up in this locker room, there’s no quit.”

“Guys are mad at how we’ve been playing, and we’re going to dial it in to find a way to take steps in the right direction here.”

Goaltender Ilya Sorokin was first off the ice at optional morning skate and will start in goal against Boston. Semyon Varlamov (COVID-19) will head back to Long Island this weekend as he has had to quarantine in Canada.

Josh Bailey is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and will miss Thursday’s contest against the Boston Bruins. Ross Johnston and Andy Greene stayed on the ice after practice, which means Kieffer Bellows will be back in the lineup and Sebastian Aho will remain in the lineup.

Head coach Barry Trotz will coach in his 250th game with the Islanders, the third coach to accomplish that feat in franchise history.

For the Boston Bruins, Patrice Bergeron will return to the lineup after missing three straight games due to a head injury per The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa. Also, Brad Marchand will miss the contest as he continues to serve his suspension.

Linus Ullmark is the confirmed starter for the Boston Bruins per Connor Ryan of the Boston Sports Journal.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINEUP (PROJECTED)

Lee–Barzal–Palmieri

Beauvillier–Nelson–Bellows

Parise–Pageau–Wahlstrom

Martin–Cizikas–Clutterbuck

Pelech–Mayfield

Chara–Dobson

Aho–Pulock

Sorokin

Schneider

BOSTON BRUINS LINEUP (PROJECTED)

Hall–Bergeron–Pastrnak

Frederic–Coyle–Smith

DeBrusk–Haula–Foligno

Blidh–Nosek–Lazar

Reilly–McAvoy

Grzelcyk–Carlo

Forbort–Vaakanainen

Ullmark

Swayman

GAME NOTES

The New York Islanders host the Boston Bruins tonight, in the second of three matchups between the clubs this season.

The last time these teams met was December 16, 2021, when Anthony Beauvillier scored and Cal Clutterbuck recorded a two-goal game in a 3-1 Islanders win.

The Islanders return to UBS Arena tonight, their first home game since February 2, after a four-game road trip.

The Islanders are 6-2-1 in their last nine regular season games against Boston and are 7-5-1 on home ice since playing the Bruins in December.

BETTING CORNER

The New York Islanders are the slight home favorites against the Boston Bruins, at -1155. They are +225 on the puck line. The Boston Bruins come in at -105 which carries a reverse puck line of -290.

The over for this game is set at 5.5, with the over at +116 and the under at -142. These lines are subject to change.

HOW TO WATCH:

Thursday night’s contest will be available on MSG+ for the local viewers. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 1050 AM ESPN, 88.7 FM WRHU and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.