The Islanders return to the ice, tonight, in Boston, to take on the Bruins at 7PM. The team hopes to put their Tuesday night defeat against Toronto in the rear view window and end a two game losing streak. Chad Johnson will get the start in net, tonight, as Johnson and Johnny Boychuk will square off against their former team. The lineup itself will look different with the departure of Colin McDonald and the arrival of Anders Lee. Colin McDonald has cleared waivers and he will report to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Lubomir Visnovsky will also make his season debut and Travis Hamonic will miss the game due to injury.
The Bruins always prove to be a tough matchup, but the Islanders must be able to show that they can bounce back from losses and avoid prolonged losing streaks. It is clear that teams have scouted the Islanders early success and it is now up to Jack Capuano and his staff to make the appropriate adjustments that are necessary to secure some much needed points. These adjustments are something that the staff has struggled with in the past. Far too often we have heard the rhetoric that the Islanders didn’t “establish their game.” I’m sorry but some nights you are going to lack crispness in execution and on some nights the opponent will be able to stop you from playing your game. It is on those nights that the real character of this staff and team is tested. Can this team win when it is not firing on all cylinders? Can this team win when the opponent is imposing their style? These are questions in which we have not seen consistent answers. As for the game tonight, here are the projected lines and defensive pairings.
Conacher-Tavares-Okposo
Lee-Nelson-Strome
Kulemin-Nielsen-Bailey
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck
Leddy-Boychuk
Visnovsky-Hickey
De Haan-Strait
Johnson-Halak
I have zero issues with these lines for tonight and, in fact, I’m excited to see how the second line of Lee, Nielson, and Strome play together as they have shown some solid chemistry in the past while playing together, briefly, in Bridgeport. Quite frankly, the top line must be better at even strength if the Islanders are going to walk out of Boston with two points tonight. I’m growing skeptical of Conacher on the first line and while it is not solely his fault that they are generating chances, I simply do not see any chemistry there. I’m not sure what the long term answer is, yet, but with Mikhail Grabovski returning soon, the Isles will have to make another tough roster decision.
This team has to bounce back tonight and can’t be caught gliding like they were during the second period of their defeat at the hands of the Maple Leafs. This team has to show some desperation tonight. I’m not saying that they will win; the Bruins are one of the best teams in the league. I just want to see some fire. I want to see some passion. I don’t want to see any passengers. If the team leaves it all on the ice and comes out with a point, I think we can all live with that. With the return of Grabovski and Michael Grabner returning in about a month, there should be some uncomfortable players on this roster. If you are going to be dead weight, you will end up being waived. With the return of those players, two forwards on the current roster will have to be waived or traded. If that doesn’t put the fear of God into some of the passengers we saw on Tuesday, then I don’t know what will. As always, for more on all things hockey, please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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