{"id":499283,"date":"2026-03-12T07:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/499283\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T07:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T07:59:13","slug":"bruins-ritchie-fitting-in-preview-islanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/499283\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruins Ritchie Fitting In, Preview @ Islanders"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Boston Bruins got back in the win column on Thursday night<\/a> when they took care of business against a playoff-bound Dallas Stars team. This afternoon, the Bruins (40-13-12, 92 points) get another stiff test as they travel to Long Island to battle the Islanders (35-20-8, 78 points).<\/p>\n

It is the third and final meeting between the teams this season. Each of the previous two went to overtime, with the road team winning both games. This will also be the third different venue the teams play at this year. They played at TD Garden in Boston, Barclays Center in Brooklyn and now Nassau Coliseum on the Island.<\/p>\n

Puck drop is set for 1:00 pm on NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub.<\/p>\n

Ritchie Fitting In<\/p>\n

Nick Ritchie skated on a new-look second line Thursday night that featured David Krejci and fellow ex-Ducks forward Ondrej Kase. The trio looked solid and made an impact on the game, which snapped a two-game losing streak for the Bruins.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice to score, nice to win. It was a good night tonight,\u201d Ritchie told reporters after his first goal and win with the Bruins<\/a>. \u201cEnergy levels were a little higher and felt better on my legs. Definitely played a better game and the team played better as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ritchie played roughly 13 minutes on Thursday night, and although he started on that new-look second line, he appeared on three of the Bruins\u2019 four offensive lines. His versatility is a key part of his value to Bruce Cassidy and the Bruins.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Nick was much better than the other night, a little more into the game,\u201d said Cassidy postgame. \u201cPuck was finding him\u2026he\u2019s had a couple of days to acclimate a little bit. Listen, I\u2019m not going to say he\u2019s going to get two points every night, but he\u2019ll probably be somewhere in between there and that\u2019s what we expect out of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bigger body, especially in this type of game, I thought. They\u2019re a heavy team, they finish checks and you\u2019ve got to work to get to the net. And I thought he did a real good job with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Injury Update<\/p>\n

Chris Wagner left Thursday\u2019s victory over the Stars after taking a roughing penalty. He will not play today against the Islanders after suffering an injury. The fourth line staple is dealing with an upper-body injury and is aiming for a return Tuesday night when the Bruins play a massive game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully he gets back on the ice [on Saturday in Boston] if he\u2019s feeling better,\u201d Cassidy said Friday at Warrior Ice Arena. \u201cIf that\u2019s the case, then Tuesday will be a good look for him. But we\u2019ll know more [on Saturday].\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bruins are also without Connor Clifton, who is currently a scratch. Kevan Miller is trying to work his way back from a knee injury suffered last spring, while Joakim Nordstrom has been in and out of the lineup with injury\/illness concerns almost all season long.<\/p>\n

Tough Task Ahead<\/p>\n

The Islanders added a key piece in JG Pageau at last Monday\u2019s trade deadline. They are looking like a solid bet to make the postseason for the second year in a row under the guidance of Barry Trotz. This is a good team that plays a structured game, but also has some serious weapons in Jordan Eberle, Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re a very good team,\u201d said\u00a0Torey Krug on Friday. \u201cI think when we play them it\u2019s typically a low-scoring game, testing each other\u2019s patience typically. It\u2019s a lot of fun. I think they\u2019re a good matchup for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bruins dropped a 3-2 shootout decision at home in December to the Islanders, but rebounded a month later in Brooklyn with an overtime victory. This is the final scheduled meeting between the teams this season. The Islanders currently occupy a Wild Card spot. They are a potential playoff opponent for the Bruins if they win the Atlantic Division.<\/p>\n

Boston Bruins Lines<\/p>\n

Brad Marchand \u2013 Patrice Bergeron \u2013 David Pastrnak
Nick Ritchie \u2013 David Krejci \u2013 Ondrej Kase
Jake DeBrusk \u2013 Charlie Coyle \u2013 Karson Kuhlman
Sean Kuraly \u2013 Par Lindholm \u2013 Anders Bjork<\/p>\n

Zdeno Chara \u2013 Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug \u2013 Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk \u2013 Jeremy Lauzon<\/p>\n

Tuukka Rask<\/p>\n

Bruins lines against the Islanders are subject to change and are based on yesterday\u2019s practice. Kuhlman replaces the injured Wagner, while Nordstrom could slot in for Bjork. They alternated on Friday at Warrior Ice Arena. John Moore, Connor Clifton and Anton Blidh are all confirmed scratches. Rask is today\u2019s expected starters.<\/p>\n

New York Islanders Lines<\/p>\n

Anders Lee \u2013 Mathew Barzal \u2013 Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier \u2013 Brock Nelson \u2013 Derick Brassard
Michael Dal Cole \u2013 JG Pageau \u2013 Josh Bailey
Matt Martin \u2013 Otto Koivula \u2013 Leo Komarov<\/p>\n

Nick Leddy \u2013 Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews \u2013 Scott Mayfield
Noah Dobson \u2013 Johnny Boychuk<\/p>\n

Semyon Varlamov<\/p>\n

Islanders lines against the Bruins are subject to change. Varlamov is the expected starter, but nothing has been confirmed by the Islanders at this time. Andy Greene, acquired from the Devils in advance of the deadline, remains out with an undisclosed injury. He is considered day-to-day. Cal Clutterbuck (wrist), Casey Cizikas (leg) and Adam Pelech (Achilles) are all on injured reserve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Boston Bruins got back in the win column on Thursday night when they took care of business…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5099],"tags":[154,95,5132,762,530,5,122,159,4,58659,5083],"class_list":["post-499283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boston-bruins","tag-boston","tag-boston-bruins","tag-bostonbruins","tag-bruce-cassidy","tag-bruins","tag-hockey","tag-islanders","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-nhl","tag-nick-ritchie","tag-torey-krug"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}