BOSTON — The Bruins are coming off their first back-to-back wins of the season, but will have a slightly different look when they return to TD Garden on Monday night to face the New York Islanders.
Forward Rich Peverley will miss his first game of the season with an undisclosed injury, while Tuukka Rask will get the start in goal.
Peverley is tied for fifth on the team with 3-4-7 totals through 12 games. He missed practice on Wednesday and Thuirsday of last week with what coach Claude Julien referred to as "maintenance days," but did play Saturday night in Toronto, albeit skating a season-low 12:02 in Boston's 7-0 victory.
Peverley was not present again for Monday's morning skate, after which Julien confirmed he would miss the game against New York.
"Not tonight," Julien said of Peverley's status. "It's a minor undisclosed injury. It needs a few more days. You saw him play last game. He played, but it's not getting better, so we're going to allow him to take a few more days."
Benoit Pouliot will return to the lineup after missing the last three games, the first while sick and the last two as a healthy scratch. Pouliot will skate on the third line with Chris Kelly and Jordan Caron, leaving the other three forward lines unchanged. The defense is also expected to be the same with Steven Kampfer remaining the healthy scratch for the fifth straight game.
Rask returns for his fourth start of the season and first since Oct. 29 in Montreal. He's still looking for his first win of the season, though his lack of success so far has more to do with how the Bruins have played in front of him than how Rask (2.71 GAA, .906 save percentage) himself has performed.
"He's been good. It's unfortunate that his record doesn't indicate the way he has played," Julien said. "But for the most part we've failed in front of him. Everybody knows that that's seen the games. We haven't given much help and haven't played that well in front of him. He's got an opportunity tonight to win his first game and it's up to all of us, him included, to be solid and the rest of the team to continue to play the way we have lately."
For the Islanders, Evgeni Nabokov will get the start in goal, with Al Montoya dressing as the backup. The Islanders are one of the few teams carrying three netminders on their roster, and Boston University product Rick DiPietro (Winthrop, Mass.) will be the odd man out in this one.
Each of the three goalies has played in four games so far this season, with Nabokov posting a 1-2-0 record with a 2.23 GAA and a .927 save percentage. He's also 3-3-1 with a 2.27 GAA and a .917 save percentage in his career against the Bruins.
The Islanders' only other scratch will also be a Bay State native, as defenseman Mike Mottau (Avon, Mass.) will sit out his fifth straight game.
New York will still have a heavy local presence in the lineup, with Jay Pandolfo (Burlington, Mass./Boston University) and Marty Reasoner (Boston College) playing up front. Reasoner played briefly with the Bruins, while forward Brian Rolston and defensemen Steve Staios and Milan Jurcina also played in Boston.
Stephane Auger and Tim Peel will be the referees, with Brian Murphy and Thor Nelson working the lines.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Jordan Caron-Chris Kelly-Benoit Pouliot
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Scratches: Rich Peverley (undisclosed injury), Steven Kampfer
Projected Islanders lines
Forwards
Matt Moulson-John Tavares-Michael Grabner
Brian Rolston-Frans Nielsen-P.A. Parenteau
Blake Comeau-Marty Reasoner-Kyle Okposo
Jay Pandolfo-Josh Bailey-Matt Martin
Defense
Steve Staios-Mark Streit
Andrew MacDonald-Travis Hamonic
Mark Eaton-Milan Jurcina
Goalies
Evgeni Nabokov
Al Montoya
Scratches: Mike Mottau, Rick DiPietro
