Bruins at Islanders
The red-hot Boston Bruins have not lost in regulation in more than a month, and they attempt to extend their point streak to 15 games against the host New York Islanders on Thursday. The Bruins knocked off Montreal 4-1 on Wednesday to improve to 10-0-4 since suffering a regulation loss versus Washington on Dec. 14 - the franchise’s longest point streak since a 16-game run in 2014.
Brad Marchand notched a goal and an assist Wednesday to push his team-leading total to 43 points - 11 in the last six games - and Patrice Bergeron continued to produce with a pair of assists for Boston. The Bruins rolled to a 5-1 road triumph on Jan. 2 for their second victory this season against the injury-ravaged Islanders, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end with a 4-1 loss to Metropolitan Division-rival New Jersey on Tuesday. All-Star Josh Bailey (lower body), New York's second-leading scorer, could be the first of four injured forwards to return on Thursday, but Shane Prince (upper body) left Tuesday’s contest and is questionable to face Boston. “You pray for a quick recovery for the injured guys,” Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey told Newsday, “but we have to find a way ourselves.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet 360, NESN (Boston), MSG Plus2 (New York)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (25-10-8): David Pastrnak recorded his 18th goal in the win over Montreal to become the second Bruin to reach 40 points and Ryan Spooner scored for the third time in four contests. David Krejci registered a goal and an assist in Wednesday’s win, giving him nine points in as many games, while rookie Jake DeBrusk notched his fifth point - an assist - in five games. Backup Anton Khudobin could get the start Thursday after Tuukka Rask improved to 13-0-2 in his last 15 decisions against Montreal.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (23-19-4): Rookie Mathew Barzal has tried to pick up some of the slack in Bailey’s absence with three goals and seven assists in his last four games while linemate Jordan Eberle has recorded seven assists in the same span. Captain John Tavares has registered four of his team-leading 54 points in the last four contests, including the overtime tally in Montreal on Monday. New York is second in the league in scoring (3.39 goals) but sits last in the NHL in goals allowed (3.63) and 30th in penalty-killing (73.8 percent).
OVERTIME
1. New York LW Anders Lee scored his team-best 26th goal in Tuesday’s loss but has managed just two points in his last eight games.
2. Boston D Torey Krug snapped his five-game point drought with an assist on Wednesday and is one point shy of 200 for his career.
3. Islanders rookie D Sebastian Aho posted a minus-6 rating over his first three NHL games but is plus-5 in his last three contests.