Game 3 Preview: Islanders vs. Bruins

GAME 3: ISLANDERS VS BRUINS
7:30 PM | NASSAU COLISEUM
SERIES TIED 1-1
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It's a best of five.
After evening up the series 1-1 with a big 4-3 OT win in Game 2 at TD Garden on Monday night, the New York Islanders are excited to take advantage of home ice as they host the Boston Bruins on Thursday night at Nassau Coliseum at 7:30 p.m.

With the series tied 1-1 and having faced the Bruins eight times during the regular season, there are no surprises in this matchup between two of the stingiest, tight-checking teams in the league. While Game 1 was a bit of an oddity - as Boston won 5-2 -Game 2 was a more accurate reflection of the type of games between these two defensive juggernaut squads that share an abundance of similarities.
"It's a general mentally that the team has," Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "You could go line-by-line…But it's really an organizational mindset that you have to play a certain way, you have to play a 200-foot game. [We have] a blue-collar identity to our team. That's what Boston has. They have a blue-collar identity. That's part of their DNA and that's part of our DNA. Both organizations would predicate their game on a team concept."

CONTINUE TO EXECUTE 'ISLANDER HOCKEY'

The Islanders felt that Monday night's game was one of their better performances of the season. It was reinforced by a three-goal second period, which featured two power-play goals, a two-point (1G, 1A) outing for both Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kyle Palmieri, an overtime winner from Cizikas - his first playoff goal since April 2015 - and a solid effort between Semyon Varlamov in net, who made his first appearance in the series.
With goals from Pageau, Palmieri and Josh Bailey, the trio are now atop the Islanders' leaderboard with four goals each.
The Islanders are hoping to build off their execution as they look to continue to play their brand of disciplined and stingy hockey to have success in this series against Boston.
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"We did what we needed to do in terms of stealing one of their home games," Matt Martin said. "Now, we have an opportunity to get wins and take care of business in our building. They're a good team and not going to go away easily. We've got to be at our best tomorrow night. Because they're a team that if you're not at your best, if you go to sleep for five-10 minutes, they can put it in the back of the net pretty quickly. It's going to be a hard-fought battle."

STAY SOLID ON SPECIAL TEAMS

The Islanders received a boost with two-power play goals in Game 2 from Bailey and Pageau to finish the night two-for-three. In the postseason, the Islanders have manufactured a 6-for-22 (27.3%) conversion on the power play, while their penalty kill has gone 10-for-16 (62.5%).
The Islanders understand the importance of putting a dent in the special teams battle against a team like Boston, who is strong in both areas with a 8-for-23 power play (34.%) and a 21-for-27 PK (77.8%). Boston went 1-for-2 on the power play in Game 2, with a tying power-play goal from Brad Marchand that sent the game into overtime.
"We've got to stay at least even with them in the special teams," Trotz said. "Then, we'll take our chances in the five-on-five play."
Anthony Beauvillier leads the team in power-play goals with two and is tied with Matthew Barzal (3A) in power-play points.
For Boston, Marchand leads the team in strikes on the power play with three, while Charlie McAvoy has a team-high six power-play points (6A).

MOBILIZE THE FANS

Boston increased TD Garden to full capacity for the second round and the Bruins got a boost from the raucous atmosphere. The Islanders are hoping for the same as they host Games 3 and 4 at Nassau Coliseum. The team is looking forward to their fans diligently and passionately rocking the Coli for this round and are extra motivated to play in front of their own boost of increased capacity that is up to 12,000 as of May 28.
"I think they know, bring it, we're going to need them," Trotz said. "We're going need every one of them just to get through this because we're playing a very good hockey team. We want to do it for the area, for our fan base, for ourselves as an organization."

BOSTON NOTES:

• Per Bruins Head Coach Bruce Cassidy, goaltender Tuukka Rask is dealing with a 'nagging injury.' Rask still practiced with the team on Wednesday before traveling to Long Island for Game 3 and Cassidy confirmed following Wednesday's that Rask is 'ready to go.'
• Craig Smith joined the team for practice on Wednesday. The winger took rushes with his usual linemates in David Krejci and Taylor Hall and also took reps on the power play. Smith missed Game 2 with an injury sustained in Game 1. Cassidy said that Smith will be a 'game-time decision.'
• Defensemen Kevan Miller and Jakub Zobril will not play in Game 3 as both are still dealing with upper-body injuries.
• Jake DeBrusk was fined $5,000 by the NHL on Tuesday for cross-checking Scott Mayfield in Game 2.
• While the Islanders did a better job of containing the 'Perfection Line' of Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak in Game 2, the lethal trio still produced. They combined for four points (2G, 2A) in Game 2, bringing up their point total to 10 points (5G, 5A) through two games in the series.