Resurgent Isles, Bruins look to keep mojo going
The New York Islanders and Boston Bruins learned over the past few weeks that even the sturdiest of NHL contenders are going to endure a rough stretch of play. The two Eastern Conference powers will look to continue emerging from their slumps on Saturday night, when the Islanders host the Bruins in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Both teams will enter Saturday riding two consecutive wins. The Islanders have been off since Tuesday, when they edged the host New Jersey Devils 4-3 in overtime. The Bruins last played Thursday, when they beat the visiting Winnipeg Jets, 5-4.
The Islanders' back-to-back victories came immediately after a stretch in which they lost 10 of 19 games (9-9-1), a span in which they were limited to two goals or fewer nine times. That downturn began right after New York's franchise-record 17-game point streak (15-0-2) from Oct. 12 through Nov. 23.
Head coach Barry Trotz is hoping the energetic win over the Devils -- in which the Islanders trailed 3-2 late in the third period and won on Anders Lee's goal in the final minute of a frantic overtime -- will serve as validation for the team remaining focused throughout the recent skid.
"We stayed with it and you get rewarded," Trotz told reporters Tuesday night. "I think you get tested in this game and if you stay with it, you get rewarded at the right time, sometimes. The harder you work the luckier you get."
The Bruins followed up their own marathon point streak -- a 13-game stretch from Nov. 10 through Dec. 5 in which they went 9-0-4 -- by losing 10 of 14 (4-5-5). But Boston has been rewarded over the past two games, during which it scored more goals in the wins over the Jets and Nashville Predators (11) than in the previous five games combined (10).
"That's one of those things where it seemed like at the beginning of the year, it was kind of coming to us," Bruins left winger Jake DeBrusk said after he scored two goals, including the game-winner in the third period, against the Jets. "We wouldn't really play our game or our style, yet we were found ways to win. (During the slump) it felt like we were playing the way we wanted to play, and we weren't getting rewarded."
A pair of No. 1 goalies are likely to oppose each other Saturday night.
The Islanders' Semyon Varlamov, who started five straight games before sitting out Tuesday, is expected to return to the lineup against the Bruins. Varlamov recorded his 27th career shutout Monday, when he stopped all 32 shots he faced as New York edged the Colorado Avalanche, 1-0.
Tuukka Rask, who didn't play in Thursday's win, is in line to start for the Bruins. Rask earned the win in his most recent appearance Tuesday, when he turned back 33 shots in Boston's 6-2 win over the Predators.
Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara, who began his career with the Islanders way back in 1997, is expected to play after missing Thursday's game to treat an abscess in his jaw. Chara has been dealing with chronic jaw issues since he suffered a broken jaw during last year's Stanley Cup Finals.
--Field Level Media
