Need to Know: Bruins at Islanders

BostonBruins.com - The Bruins will meet the New York Islanders on Thursday night for the first time since the teams squared off in the second round of the last spring's Stanley Cup Playoffs. But this one will hardly have a playoff feel with Boston severely shorthanded by an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak within the dressing room.
On the heels of Craig Smith, Brad Marchand, and Patrice Bergeron entering protocols over the past few days, the Bruins added Jeremy Swayman, Trent Frederic, Anton Blidh, and a staff member to the list on Thursday morning.

As such, the Bruins have recalled Jack Studnicka, Oskar Steen, Kyle Keyser, and Jesper Froden from Providence. Froden will make his NHL debut against the Isles, while Keyser could see his first action with the big club at some point this weekend with a back-to-back slated for Montreal and Ottawa.
"Other guys have to step up," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said ahead of the B's first-ever visit to UBS Arena. "There's an opportunity for Jack Studnicka. We would like to see him take some steps here. It's an opportunity now without a centerman that plays a lot of minutes in the lineup. Obviously, [Charlie] Coyle has played good hockey for us will get more minutes and see how it spreads out with the other guys.
"Try to be the best version of yourself and see if you can help us forward here. Other teams have gone through it, we're no different. Could be a time where you look back on the year and say, 'Hey we pushed through in this situation and helped get us going.'"
Froden impressed during training camp, particularly the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo, and has been part of the P-Bruins' top line with Steven Fogarty and Oskar Steen. The 27-year-old Swede has four goals and nine assists for 13 points in 21 games with Providence this season.
"Froden, Steen, and Fogarty were arguably their most productive line," said Cassidy. "I know Jack played with [Chris] Wagner and [Jakub] Lauko and I know they've had their moments…Froden, kind of like we saw in training camp, he's a skilled player, can play in traffic, make plays, complement good players. He's played the bumper on the power play, which for us losing Bergy and Smitty is important, to have someone in there that's done it before."
In addition to the B's prospects having a chance to step up, Cassidy also pointed to the team's young core of David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Brandon Carlo as players that must elevate their game on the ice, as well as take on more of the leadership load in the dressing room.
"We started the process this year of A's going to younger players; Pastrnak, McAvoy, and Carlo are all rotating," said Cassidy. "We feel like those guys have a great opportunity to be the next veteran core. Right now, I'd call them the mid-range core. They've learned from Bergy, Marchy, Zdeno Chara, from David Krejci, Torey Krug to a certain extent.
"We feel they'll be in good hands if they've taken anything from those guys. I've said it all along, I feel like we've got the best leadership in the National Hockey League; I've said that for a number of years. I think we're good there."
Here's everything else you need to know ahead of the 7:30 p.m. puck drop on NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub:

Finding Perspective

Cassidy acknowledged that the Bruins' current predicament is certainly frustrating given how much progress the world appeared to be making in recent months in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he went on to note that the most important thing remains the health of Boston's players and staff.
"It is frustrating. I just went through it," said Cassidy, who missed six games while in COVID-19 protocol. "I think that the important part is going forward, if all these teams come out of it and the players and staff - cause some of the staff are much older than players and the physical shape that they're in - if they come out of it healthy, not having to visit the hospital, be in an ICU, be on a respirator, then clearly we're much farther ahead than we were a year ago cause there was a lot of uncertainty. Vaccines have helped that, now boosters are in place."

Bags Are Packed

Cassidy said he has gotten no indication that the Bruins' trip to Canada this weekend will be postponed. As of now, however, the Black & Gold will delay their travel to Montreal and stay over on Long Island following Thursday's game, before practicing there on Friday.
Boston will also undergo further COVID testing ahead of their flight to Canada on Friday afternoon.
"We are packed, ready to go," said Cassidy. "Everyone has brought their stuff for the full three games…there's been no conversation that I'm aware of…there's always concern, have more people been infected in the locker room? We'll test here before we leave to Canada."
The Bruins also delayed their trip to Long Island in order to undergo further testing. Instead of flying on Wednesday afternoon, Boston left on Thursday morning and did not hold a pregame skate. Cassidy also scrapped Wednesday's practice after feeling the players needed more rest following their loss to the Golden Knights on Tuesday.
"We came out of the Vegas game and we were flat, we didn't have the energy we needed coming out of that road trip," said Cassidy. "You can tell now that obviously guys were affected for different reasons, some of them right in front of us - COVID. It takes something out of you. We had a little bout of the flu before. Just felt [on Wednesday] we were probably gonna have to take a rest and then stuff started happening so we have to clear out.
"Today was a little bit of uncertainty with travel, guys had to re-test this morning early to make sure that the POCs came back all negative so that we could field a hockey team to play. That took away from a bit of our planning ability to get on the ice."
Despite having been off the ice for the past couple of days, Cassidy believes his club will be prepared to play against the Islanders.
"I think our guys will be fine tonight," he said. "Obviously you want to make sure that coming to the rink tonight you're doing a little more to prepare before the game physically. But a little time away from the rink after everything that's happened is probably not a bad thing. Guys can reset a little bit after that long trip and some disruption to your team."

Opposing View

The Islanders dealt with their own COVID-19 outbreak earlier this season when eight players entered the protocols leading to the postponement of two games in late November. In the midst of the COVID issues, the Islanders dropped 11 straight from Nov. 7-Dec. 5.
The Isles, who are coming off two straight trips to the Conference Final, have gone 2-2-0 since the losing streak and suffered a 2-1 setback to Detroit in their most recent game on Tuesday night. They currently sit last in the Metro Division with a 7-12-5 record and 19 points.
New York is also dealing with more COVID trouble after leading scorer Mat Barzal (5 goals, 12 assists) entered the protocols earlier this week.
Brock Nelson paces the Islanders with nine goals, while Oliver Wahlstrom and Anders Lee have potted eight apiece. Former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, who was one of the players to enter protocols during the club's initial outbreak, has two assists in 21 games for the Isles this season.
In goal, Ilya Sorokin has taken most of the reps with a 7-7-4 record to go along with a 2.47 goals against average and .926 save percentage in 18 games. Semyon Varlamov is 0-5-1 with a 3.29 GAA and .844 save percentage.

Wait, There's More

• Cassidy said that he spoke to both Bergeron and Marchand on Wednesday evening and "they're both feeling OK, neither has been hit hard by COVID. But that could change." He added that Smith is also "in that boat."
• Given the constraints with the roster, John Moore was assigned to Providence to comply with the salary cap. Mike Reilly will re-enter the lineup and play alongside Connor Clifton.
• Linus Ullmark will start against the Islanders. Cassidy added that despite a back-to-back on tap this weekend, he does not yet know how the goaltending schedule will shake out. "We'll see which game might be the best fit for [Keyser]," he said. "But again, will be a great opportunity for him to get in a game if that's the case."

Thursday's Projected Lineup

FORWARDS
Taylor Hall - Charlie Coyle - David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk - Jack Studnicka - Oskar Steen
Erik Haula - Tomas Nosek - Nick Foligno
Jesper Froden - Curtis Lazar - Karson Kuhlman
DEFENSEMEN
Derek Forbort - Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk - Brandon Carlo
Mike Reilly - Connor Clifton
GOALIES
Linus Ullmark
Kyle Keyser