Islanders at Bruins
THE STORY: The Boston Bruins may sit near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but it is a safe bet there aren't too many teams who want to face them right now. The Bruins look to build on their most impressive performance of the season as they entertain the New York Islanders on Monday. The defending Stanley Cup champions released an entire month's worth of frustration on the Toronto Maple Leafs over the weekend, stomping them 7-0 in a game highlighted by Tyler Seguin's first career hat trick. Boston looked every bit like the team that battled its way to the championship - and nothing like the squad that opened 2011-12 with seven losses in 10 games. The Islanders have played the fewest road games of any team in the league (three), but that's about to change as they embark on a three-game trek. They are coming off an impressive 5-3 win over Washington on Saturday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Versus, RIS, NHL Network Canada, TSN2, NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (4-5-2): The term "goaltending carousel" has taken on a life of its own on the Island, where all three netminders on the roster have appeared in four games. Evgeni Nabokov and Al Montoya have separated themselves from Rick DiPietro, posting identical .930 save percentages. It is thought the Islanders will look to deal one of the veteran netminders at some point during the season, so having them all play well can only help the club both in the standings and on the trade market.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (5-7-0): The positives were plentiful Saturday. Seguin led a season-best attack to move into the top 10 in scoring with 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 12 games. Tim Thomas recorded his first shutout of the season while lowering his goals-against average to 2.00. Even struggling forward David Krejci got in on the act, scoring for only the second time in nine games.
OVERTIME:
1. Boston won three of four meetings last season, and have prevailed in seven of the last 10 overall.
2. Road struggles are nothing new to the Islanders; they have won only 28 times in their last 116 games played away from Uniondale.