Game Preview: Islanders vs. Bruins

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (15-6-4) VS. BOSTON BRUINS (13-6-3)
7PM | NASSAU COLISEUM
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The New York Islanders continue their five-game homestand as they host the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at Nassau Coliseum. It'll be the fourth meeting between the two clubs and first of three meetings this month. The Islanders are 3-0-0 in their first three meetings vs the Bruins, including a 7-2 rout in the most recent meeting on Feb. 25.

The Islanders enter Tuesday's contest riding a five-game win streak and are on their second eight-game point streak (7-0-1) this season. In a deja-vu slate, the Islanders won three-straight games all with the same 5-2 score against the same team, the Buffalo Sabres, with the most recent win coming on Sunday afternoon.
The Islanders' Sunday matinee featured production from Brock Nelson (2G), Anders Lee, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck. Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves to collect his fourth win of the season and of his rookie career.
The Bruins enter Tuesday's contest having been shut out 1-0 by the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night. Tuukka Rask made 24 saves in the loss. Boston outshot New Jersey 40-25 in the loss.

ISLANDERS NOTES

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• Barry Trotz will coach his 1,700th NHL game on Tuesday night, becoming the third coach in league history to reach the milestone.
• With three wins over the weekend, and having strung together five-straight 'W's', the Islanders have ascended to first place in the East Division standings. Through their last 18 games, the Islanders are 12-2-4.
• On home ice, the Islanders are the only team in the NHL to have not suffered a regulation loss with a 10-0-2 record. Their 22 points match the most in the first 12 home games in club history. It's also only the second time in franchise history that they have opened the season with points in 12-straight games.
• With his fourth win of the season and of his career, Sorokin improved his record to 4-2-1. The Russian rookie has a 2.14 GAA and a .911 SV%.
• Lee extended his point streak to four games as he scored his third goal in that span and his team-best 12th of the season. The Islanders captain now has 18 points (12G, 6A) in 25 games.
• Nelson's two goals marked his second and third goals in the last two games and brought his season total to nine goals. The forward is now tied with three other players (Mathew Barzal, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Jordan Eberle) for nine goals this season.
• With goals from Cizikas and Clutterbuck, the Islanders 'Identity Line' had a productive showing through three games against the Sabres. The trio all recorded at least a point in each game. Cizikas had four points (1G, 3A), Clutterbuck posted three points (2G, 1A) and Martin finished the three-game set with four points (2G, 2A). This season, Cizikas has 10 points (4G, 6A) and Martin has eight points (4G, 4A) in 25 games, while Clutterbuck has totaled eight points (3G, 5A) in 22 games.
• Pageau's assist on Cizikas' goal marked his 200th career point (98G, 102A) through 460 NHL games. Pageau ranks third overall in the NHL in defensive zone faceoff wins with a 106. Pageau has a d-zone FOW% of 60.9% (106-of-174).
• With an assist on Lee's goal, Noah Dobson extended his point streak to three games with three points in that span (1G, 2A). The 21-year-old blueliner has 11 points (2G, 9A) this season.
• The Islanders recorded their 15th regulation win this season as all of their wins this year have come in regulation. They are tied with Tampa Bay for the second-highest total in the NHL, Toronto has 16 regulation wins.
• The Islanders' 2.20 goals against per game is the third-lowest in the NHL, trailing only Vegas and Tampa Bay.

BRUINS NOTES:

• Boston is ranked third overall in the East Division with 29 points and a 13-6-3 record.
• Jaroslav Halak will start in net against the Islanders, as confirmed by Boston Head Coach Bruce Cassidy on Monday afternoon. The former Islander netminder was in goal in the last meeting between the Islanders and Bruins where the Islanders scored seven goals on 37 shots in their 7-2 win. Halak has a record of 5-2-1, a 2.24 GAA and a .913 SV%.
• Brad Marchand leads the Bs in scoring with 27 points and a team-best 12 goals through 22 games. His linemates on the 'Perfection Line' Patrice Bergeron (22 points) and David Pastrnak (20 points) rank second and third.
• Brandon Carlo was injured with an upper-body injury, which required him to visit the hospital, on March 3 in Boston's 2-1 shootout loss to Washington. The defenseman took a hit along the boards from Washington's Tom Wilson, who was suspended for seven games by the NHL Player Safety. Per coach Cassidy, Carlo was released from the hospital on Monday morning and is week-to-week.
• Boston's power play ranks 11th overall in the NHL at 24.2%. Their penalty kill is ranked first overall in the NHL with a kill percentage of 89.2%.
• Boston takes the sixth-most shots per game with an average of 31.5%. Conversely, the Bruins allow the second-fewest shots against with a 26.3 average.
• In the faceoff circle, the Bruins are ranked first overall with a 56.2 FOW%. Bergeron, the captain of the Bruins, ranks third overall in the NHL with a 63.2 FOW%.
• Boston gives up the fourth-fewest goals against per game with an average of 2.41.