Morning Skate Updates: Islanders vs Bruins

The New York Islanders take on the Boston Bruins on Thursday night at Barclays Center at 7 p.m. See it live. Watch on MSG+2, MSG GO or SN360 in Canada. Listen on 88.7FM, AM970 or 103.9FM. Read the game preview.

BAILEY RETURNS:

The Islanders are getting an all star back Thursday as Josh Bailey returns to the lineup to face the Bruins. Bailey has missed four games due to an upper-body injury, a significant absence for the team, as Bailey is the second leading point scorer, with 50 points (12G, 32A) in 42 games this season.
"It's never fun missing games, you're always chomping at the bit to get back." Bailey said.

Bailey's return allows Head Coach Doug Weight to reconnect the Islanders' top line, as Bailey slots in on the right wing with John Tavares and Anders Lee. Bailey will rejoin the Islanders' top power-play unit as well.
"Bails, amongst other guys, has been a really big loss, it's been noticeable", Weight said. "It will be good to see him back out there."
Weight added that Bailey's return has a ripple effect on the lineup, as it slots players back in their normal roles. With Bailey returning to the power play, Jordan Eberle is expected to return to the second power-play unit.
ISLANDERS PROJECTED LINES:

INJURY UPDATES:

Casey Cizikas skated with the Islanders at Thursday's morning skate, but is not ready to return to the lineup. Cizikas skated with the healthy Islanders for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury on Saturday. He stayed on for extra work after the optional team skate.
"Not ready, but skating well," Weight said. "Those upper-body injuries, we'll take them over the lower anytime. He can get out there and keep his wind up, but he's not ready yet. As desperate as things are, you have to push it but you have to make sure he's gonna be healthy when he plays."

Johnny Boychuk and Andrew Ladd both took the ice before the optional morning skate, with Boychuk briefly staying on, though he did not participate in any team drills. Weight did not have an update on either player.
Nikolay Kulemin was on the ice for a second straight day, skating with Cizikas and Thursday's scratches. Kulemin, whose timetable was 4-6 months after mid-November surgery, isn't expected back any time soon, but Weight said the Russian forward can at least work keep skating given that he's rehabbing an upper-body injury.
"This is the uncomfortable stage for him where he can start skating but they're really going to be pushing it," Weight said. "But he's aggressively pursuing to get back. Still a long way away, but it certainly is good. I think things like that open your eyes. Kuly is a valuable player on our team and it brings us stability, so we miss him, but he's definitely on a good track."

ISLES VS BRUINS:

The Islanders have lost both meetings with the Bruins this season and are looking to avoid the season series sweep. It won't be easy as Boston has points in an NHL-best 14 straight games, going 10-0-4. Defenseman Thomas Hickey weighs in on what it will take for the Islanders to beat the Bruins.
"A team that plays as well as they've been playing, they're obviously confident and you can't take that away from the team. I think the biggest thing is they work hard, they're lead by that first line that just plays the right way and has a ton of skill and it sort of trickles down to the rest of the lineup with a lot of guys that are new in the league but are really carving out roles for themselves and they all work very hard. It's never an easy game against them and especially the way they've been playing, they play really hard so we have to match it."

KHUDOBIN LIKELY TO START:

Anton Khudobin is the likely starter in goal tonight for the Bruins, as the Tuukka Rask played last night against Montreal. Khudobin is 9-2-4 this season with a 2.40 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. The Bruins backup is 2-0-2 in his last four starts.
BRUINS PROJECTED LINES:
| FORWARDS | | --- | | LEFT WING | CENTER | RIGHT WING | | BRAD MARCHAND | PATRICE BERGERON | DAVID PASTRNAK | | JAKE DEBRUSK | DAVID KREJCI | RYAN SPOONER | | DANTON HEINEN | RILEY NASH | DAVID BACKES | | TIM SCHALLER | SEAN KURALY | NOEL ACCIARI |

| DEFENSE | | --- | | ZDENO CHARA | CHARLIE MCAVOY | | TOREY KRUG | ADAM MCQUAID | | MATT GRZELCYK | BRANDON CARLO |