New York Islanders vs. Boston Bruins [Game 43 thread]

The Boston Bruins bring a streak of dominating their New York visits when they meet the New York Islanders at their alternate home in Brooklyn tonight.

The Islanders haven’t played at Barclays Center since Nov. 30, but the Bruins have beaten them in regulation on eight consecutive visits across both their home rinks.

No lineup changes are expected for the Islanders, who have won their last two: Tom Kuhnhackl, who is healthy and also on a mini-hot streak, took a “maintenance” day yesterday but was expected to play.

Noah Dobson will remain in the lineup and continue to grow with the opening created by Adam Pelech’s injury. The alternate to Dobson, Sebastian Aho, was returned to Bridgeport to get some action during the Sound Tigers’ three-in-three weekend, but the Isles announced an hour before the game that he had been recalled again.

Here’s Barry Trotz on Dobson’s progress (“he’s getting better and better”), Michael Dal Colle’s slow and steady development, Cal Clutterbuck’s injury rehab, and more in the gameday meeting with media:

The Bruins beat the Jets Thursday night on the back of a David Pastrnak hat trick, giving him 35 goals in 45 games this season.

How do the Bruins view the Islanders? Like this:

“(Islanders coach Barry Trotz) plays a 1-1-3, they always have a line or two back and they’re pretty consistent with it. They’re very structured in that regard, so it’s tough to gain the blue line with numbers. You get into the zone, they usually have three [players] back so you’re not getting a lot of odd-man rushes, you’re not getting a lot of situations where you’re going to get one of those clear neutral zone attacks. If your [defensemen] can beat their forwards up the ice, there’s a little room in there, but usually that means the next wave has to participate.” -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy