Back The Bruins As They Take On The Islanders

Islanders vs. Bruins, 7:00 ET

Welcome back to the ice, my friends. I haven't written about hockey aside from the Four Nations Face Off finale. Outside of that game, it has been weeks since I covered an NHL game - partially because there have been so many good basketball games and partially because there were no hockey games to actually talk about. I've done really well on the ice this season and I hope the break didn't hurt that momentum as we put a play on tonight's game between the Islanders and the Bruins.

The Islanders haven't put together a very impressive season to this point in the year with a 25-25-7 record for the year. A .500 team overall, also has a .500 record on the road with a 12-12-5 mark. The team is struggling at the moment as well with four losses in their past five games. It isn't really the offense as they've put up three goals in three of the five games, but they also have allowed four or more goals in each of the losses. Their lone win in this stretch was against the Golden Knights, at home, and they won the game 2-1. Before this tough stretch, New York was playing some if its best hockey, winning seven wins, and eight wins in nine games. They lost five games in six matchups and have lost five of seven this month. They are averaging just 2.70 goals per game for the season, but they are allowing almost three goals per game. In terms of shots, they are taking more than they are allowing, but clearly the quality is better for the opponents than it is for the Islanders. Tonight they are likely to have Ilya Sorokin in the net with a 20-18-4 record with a 2.80 goals against per game average. He also is at .903% for his save percentage this season. He has struggled against the Bruins in two games against them this season, allowing nine goals. 

The Bruins aren't having a much better season than the Islanders. Boston is just 27-24-8 this year, but they have been very good at home this season with a strong 18-9-5 record on their home ice. Similarly to the Islanders, they have lost four of the past five games, including four straight games. They have been on the verge of a victory though with back-to-back overtime losses. They have actually lost all four of the games by one goal. Now, I should put a caveat about these losses. Both teams have only played two games since the return so technically two losses came this week, and two came a couple of weeks ago. The Bruins are not playing great offense with just 2.76 goals per game, and they are allowing 3.20 goals against per game, so clearly the defense is an issue for the team. It is expected that Jeremy Swayman will be in the net tonight. Swayman hasn't been very impressive this year with just an 18-18-6 record and is allowing 3.02 goals per game to opponents. He has a similar save percentage to that of Sorokin at .897%.

This is a battle between two average teams. The Islanders are not very good, and the Bruins are not either. It really shouldn't be much of a surprise that this game is a bit of a pick'em. One of these teams has to get a victory here though, and I have a feeling it will be Boston. We get the Bruins playing at home where they have been very good and Sorokin not playing well against the Bruins this season. I like the over, but I'll play the Bruins. 

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