Still Unclear if New York Islanders, Boston Bruins Matchup Will Occur on Thursday

The New York Islanders would have been in Boston on Tuesday for their first of two meetings with the Bruins. Instead, they spent the day enjoying a day off wondering if their scheduled four-game road trip would be a three-game trip.

Questions remain about whether or not Thursday’s game with Boston will take place as planned with Boston’s Sean Kuraly, David Pastrnak, David Krejci, Jake DeBrusk and Craig Smith still on the COVID-19 protocol list. For the Islanders part, Noah Dobson has also been on the protocol list since March 14.

The NHL made the decision to postpone Tuesday’s matchup between New York and Boston on Friday and Boston is hoping to reopen their practice facility on Wednesday. With the uncertainty of Thursday’s game, the Islanders returned to Long Island after Monday’s win over Philadelphia.

The New York Islanders had the day off on Tuesday and will return to the ice to practice on Wednesday, when Islanders head coach Barry Trotz expects that the NHL will give them some direction as to if Thursday’s game will be played.

“At this current moment it sounds like we will be playing unless we hear differently,” Trotz said after Monday’s win. “We’re going to take that approach.”

Boston general manager Don Sweeny didn’t have much more to offer reporters on Monday when he spoke to the media about the team’s current situation. Sweeny could not say if Thursday’s game would be played or when the five Boston players on the protocol list could be back on the ice.

“The hope is we continue to gain knowledge and move forward over the next couple of days with the hope of returning to some kind of practice Wednesday, but we have some hurdles to cross before we can get there,” Sweeny said, according to Boston Hockey Now.

If Thursday’s game takes place as scheduled it will be the Islanders’ first trip to Boston this season.